


Slacker

by CandiedSweets



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Anxiety, Depression, F/F, Friendship/Love, Gender Dysphoria, Trans Female Character, Transphobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:40:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28854456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CandiedSweets/pseuds/CandiedSweets
Summary: Marceline’s missed a few days of school and a certain pink haired classmate brings her the work she’s missed, but accidentally finds out something about her in the process.
Relationships: Princess Bubblegum/Marceline
Comments: 40
Kudos: 113





	1. Chapter 1

Marceline awoke to the all-too familiar groggy feeling, tinged with a slight feeling of sickness and exhaustion. She looked at the time on her bedside clock. 3:55 pm it read. She groaned as her brain slowly registered the time. This was fairly bad, even for her. She was quickly accompanied by the rumbling of her stomach. She hadn’t eaten since last night and had been too exhausted to drag herself out of bed to eat when her alarm had awoken her earlier, more content to turn it off and resolve to continue sleeping and miss another day of school. She should probably get up and get herself some food but staying in bed also seemed a very attractive option to her and the lack of energy she had.

Just as she was considering the pro’s and con’s of not getting up to eat in favour of simply staying in bed, a persistent sound dragged her from her thoughts. The dull, continual buzzing of the doorbell. She’d rather just ignore it and hope that whoever was so stubborn to continue ringing would just go away. However, it was getting late in the day, so she took this as the opportunity as the excuse to force herself out of bed and towards the front door. She considered cleaning herself up a bit and changing before answering but discarded the idea. It was probably just Simon checking on her after her few days of absence. He always tended to worry whenever she missed too much, making sure she didn’t slip into certain old habits and bringing work she missed. She scratched the itch in her arms as memories resurfaced, trying to push them to the back of her mind as she approached the door.

When she opened the door the familiar face of Simon wasn’t what greeted her, but instead a politely smiling girl her own age, a fair bit shorter than her, topped with immaculate, shoulder length pink hair the colour of cotton-candy, her cheeks pink with a slight blush, along with a light dusting of freckles and friendly smile fitted perfectly on her face.

The girl quirked one eyebrow up as she looked over Marceline, she presumed it was due to her still being in pyjamas at 4 in the afternoon. There was a slight faltering of the polite expression on her face as well as she looked at Marceline’s face. Her face flashed through a few of expressions, confusion and understanding among them. Just as quickly however, she regained her composure, and that same polite smile went back to resting on her face as she dug through her messenger bag on her side to retrieve a small set of papers.

“Hi Marceline, Mr. Petrikov asked if I could bring you the classwork you’ve missed since he’s too busy to, so here it is.” She stated, while holding out the papers towards Marceline. She quickly took them from the girl.

“Oh, uh, thanks” Marceline muttered out awkwardly, scratching the back of her head with her free hand in nervousness.

Bonnibel simply nodded in recognition. “Well, I hope I’ll see you at school soon.” She said in a far to cheery voice for the subject matter, at least to Marceline’s mind, and proceeded to walk off to wherever cute pastel haired girls spent their time.

As she walked back inside after closing the door, she passed a mirror and realised something rather horrifying. She hadn’t shaved her face in days. And that pink-haired princess had just seen her. She groaned in realization. She’d been doing so well in keeping it secret after what’d occurred in her last school. A single word crossed her mind as she felt a pit form in her stomach.

_Shit._

She resolved to see if she could skip a few more days of school. Maybe it’d slip from everyone’s minds if she stayed away for a few days.

\----

Okay, so she was back at school the next day much to her regret. She was many things, quite the slacking procrastinator, lazy, anxious, slightly depressed and with a tendency to skip often. But one thing she did not do (despite what most would think) was miss getting her schoolwork in. She did have _some_ post school plans, and she needed at least decent grades for those.

And so her brilliant plan to resolve to skip a few days of school had backfired as she realized, she had at least one report due the next day she needed to hand in. And to hand it in she of course had to be at school. So, here she was, braced for whispered conversation about her, stares from girls filled with suspicion, interrogation, and disgust.

However, and she was fairly sure she had been imagining it at first, but it seemed as usual no one paid her a second thought. It was a pleasant surprise, the first she’d had in a while. She mulled it over in her mind. There were two possible reasons for this. Either no one cared about it or the girl who’d visited her hadn’t said anything. Now despite the first option being unlikely, she found the second one possibly even more unbelievable.

After all it’d been an all too cheerful girl, beloved by students and teachers alike, who’d caused her plenty of issues at her last school. However, it seemed it was a fact that this one had decided to keep Marceline’s secret. She resolved herself to track the girl down and ask her about it. She needed to know for sure, if only to put her mind at ease. Plus, if the pink clad princess had genuinely respected her privacy, she’d have to thank her for it. If only to make sure she stayed on her good side.

\---

She’d managed to catch the girl after her English class ended, one of the few classes they shared. She approached her, nervousness coursing through her and her heart thudding in her ears. She cursed her anxiety but pushed it down as best she could.

Shoving her hands in the dark hoodie she was wearing, she tried to keep the anxiety out of her voice and seem as casual as possible as she asked “Hey, uhh, can I talk to you for a bit? In private?”

She could've sworn the pink haired girl slightly froze upon hearing her voice. If she had though, she regained her composure quite quickly before responding. “Oh! Sure Marceline, just let me...” she finished packing up her books, with a slightly flushed expression on her face, and a light pink blush gracing her cheeks.

"Sorry if I'm flustered, I have to help tutor today so, I'm just a bit rushed." As she finished her explanation, she motioned for Marceline to lead her somewhere private.

She led her to a mostly isolated area, behind the music building, where she usually hung out by her lonesome most days. It was private and secluded enough that no one would be able to eavesdrop on the conversation.

“So ummmm…” She realized she didn’t quite remember her name. Great start Marceline, this is sure to get you on her good side. Banner? Buchholz? Bon-something?

“It’s Bonnibel” the girl supplied with a light laugh as she noticed the trouble Marceline was having.

“Bonnibel, right, I, just wanted to ask like, did you…out me anyone?” She fidgeted with her hands, a tell-tale habit that plagued her whenever she was nervous.

The immaculate smile ever-present on Bonnibel's face fell somewhat after hearing what she asked. “You really think I would do something like that?” her voice faltered a bit near the end of her question. Marceline felt a bit of guilt course through her. She hadn’t really thought how it might come across to question someone about outing her. _Fuck._ She was failing badly at getting on Bonnibel’s good side, she needed to avoid making this a disaster. 

“No, no, it’s nothing that you’ve done I, it’s just, people have found out before and…things got pretty bad last time. I’ve just learned to expect the worst y'know?” Marceline rambled out her reasoning, which seemed to assure Bonnibel since the expression of hurt on her face came closer to one of sympathy.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me Marceline, I haven’t told anyone, and I’m not going to.” 

Marceline let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in and felt the tension that’d been building up in her body relax slightly. Things were okay. She wouldn’t have to deal with being outed _again_. “Thank you, Bonnibel.”

“You don’t need to thank me for basic decency Marceline.” Bonnibel pauses a bit, as if considering something. She nods her head slightly, deciding, and adds “And if you need a friend for support or help, I’m here.”

“Oh, uh, thanks” she muttered it out awkwardly. It was a strange experience, to be accepted. It’d happened a few times before, Simon, her former bandmates. It was still rather unfamiliar to her though, she wasn’t quite used to it. Especially someone offering support. It was strange and unfamiliar, but…also good.

A ping sounded from Bonnibel’s phone, she grabbed it from her pocket and looked at it. “Oh dangit, I’ve got to go Marceline, have to help tutor and I’m late. Talk to you later.” Bonnibel rushed off before she could respond, sparing Marceline a quick wave as she left.

Marceline pondered a thought for a moment as she watched Bonnibel walk away. _Maybe talking to Bonnibel more wouldn’t be such a terrible idea._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here’s something I’ve been tinkering around with during the holidays. I’ve kinda wanted to do a story along these lines for a while and finally came up with a decent to implement it so put off some longer works to complete it. This’ll probs be fairly short? But who knows, depends where I go with it, and updates probably weekly/fortnightly depending on how writing goes. Don't let the tags scare you btw, this'll be a mostly happy story, with some occasional references on the side to darker stuff but nothing too dark and grim, since I just want to write a mostly happy trans story with slight conflict. Also god I hate titles, I'm terrible at them, so apologies for the terrible one for this.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter and constructive criticism is always welcome as usual.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for this chapter: Misgendering, dysphoria, internalized transphobia and near-anxiety attacks. So be aware of that.

Marceline ran her fingers through her hair in annoyance. It’d been a while since she had gotten it dyed, and it’d faded back to its natural chestnut brown. She’d had a predisposition to dye in black when she had first been able to and preferred to keep it that way. The only issue was dying hair of her not insubstantial length was rather difficult to do at home without a friend. Keila had helped her with it before she’d moved, but here she didn’t have anyone to help. Well, she could ask Simon, but that’d be…weird. As she went through the mental list of people who could help, she considered Bonnibel.

She’d started exchanging light conversation with her every now and then since their impromptu meeting. A few of her friends ran in the same social circles as Bonnibel, so on occasion she’d tag along with Finn and Jake when they’d hang out with her during lunch and she’d get to talk to her for a bit. Also, Bonnibel had offered help if Marceline needed it. Though she doubted help with dying hair was what she had in mind, it was worth a try to ask and considering her pink dyed hair, she probably knew a thing or two about dying hair.

Plus, if Marceline was being completely honest, she wanted to get closer to Bonnibel. The fact she was trans made it more difficult to make close friends without constantly worrying about them finding out and reacting badly, so she kept most she hung out with at an arm’s length. Bonnibel already knew however, so she didn’t have to worry about that, and hanging out with her would be…nice.

So she tagged along with Finn and Jake next time they went to hang out with Bonnie. As they reached the corner of the school they often hanged out in, a series of benches among the shade trees, where a slight cooling wind blew all summer long, she felt anxiousness coursing through her as it always did whenever she had to ask for something.

She raised her hand in a lazy wave towards Bonnibel, who of course as usual had her nose stuck in a much too thick book to be reading in school. “Hey Bonnibel.” She said trying to draw her attention.

Her face changed to slight annoyance, offended by whoever dared interrupt her study on topics she wouldn’t need until university. As she spotted Marceline though, her face softened into a slight smile. She slid the bookmark in between her fingers onto the page she was reading and closed the book. “Hi, Marceline.”

Marceline fiddled with the hem of her shirt, trying to find a way to bring up her request without sounding too weird or sudden. As her anxiety came up with all sorts of unrealistic ways in which asking for help dying hair could go wrong, her thoughts were interrupted by Bonnibel’s questioning voice.

“So, have you been sleeping well enough lately?” she asked with slight concern. Bonnibel had recently made it her own personal mission it seemed to make sure Marceline didn’t sleep in too often, making sure she didn’t skip too much, that sorta thing. She tried to pretend it annoyed her, and wasn’t exactly sure _why_ Bonnibel seemed to be so concerned about how she was doing, but in truth it was nice to have someone be concerned for her, especially since she wasn’t even obligated to be.

She rolled her eyes slightly in faux annoyance, and nonchalantly replied. “Yeah, yeah. Been getting to sleep early enough and getting to school hasn’t been too difficult lately.” There was a lot left unsaid in her replies, but Bonnibel either didn’t notice or chose not to pry.

She continued to fiddle with her fingers, around the hem of her shirt, tapping her knee, cracking her knuckles. The anxiety in the back of her head made it hard for her to sit still as she tried to solve the puzzle that was asking a simple question to Bonnibel.

“Is there something you wanted to ask me?” her voice interrupted Marceline’s anxious thoughts again. Bonnibel was more observant than Marceline gave her credit for.

“Uh yeah, I uhh, just wanted to know if like, well you mentioned you’d help me if I need it and like, I need to dye my hair again but its kinda hard to do alone so I was wondering if you’d help? And we could hang out afterwards and get pizza or something and watch movies?” She rambled out the question. She hadn’t even planned to mention the last part, but it spilled out during her anxious ranting.

“Like a girls’ night?”

“Yeah, like a girls’ night. I mean I’ve never done one but-“

“You’ve never had one?” Bonnibel interrupted, and seemed utterly scandalized by the thought “Well, we’re going to have to remedy this as soon as possible! Are you free next weekend?”

“Uhh, yeah, I think so.”

“Good, we’ll get together, dye your hair, paint each other’s nails, watch movies, talk about boys.” She chuckled as she said the last part, as if laughing at some private joke.

Anxiety pricked at Marceline’s mind. She didn’t do group environments so well, and girls’ nights are usually groups aren’t they? She had to check to be sure. “You aren’t gonna…bring anyone else right? It’ll just be us?”

“Would you prefer that?” Bonnibel looked at her, with an expression of concern and something else she can’t quite decipher, though she swears she sees a slight smile ghost the corner of her lips.

“Yeah just, more comfortable that way yknow? I can relax and all and don’t have to…worry and all.” She breathed out shakily, trying to keep her anxiety racing through a thousand thoughts a second calm.

“It’ll be just us then Marceline.” A small genuine smile spread onto Bonnibel’s face as she said so.

“Cool, cool.” Marceline kept her reaction in check. Nice and casual, without seeming overly interested. She didn’t want to weird Bonnibel out with the reality of how _extremely_ excited she was. She almost felt like squealing in joy. She managed to resist doing so though. She didn’t want to lose all her ‘cool loner girl’ cred after all. 

The rest of the lunch passed mostly in the group in idle conversation, Marceline mostly content to listen to her music and occasionally chat with Bonnibel. As lunch ended, she came over to Marceline and asked her a question.

“Marceline, Finn and Jake want to go to that burger place down the street after school, and I thought of asking if you wanted to come with us?” Bonnibel finished her sentence with that radiant all to happy smile she always seemed to have on her face. Marceline had no idea how she could continue to be happy even about the most mundane things.

“Sure, I guess I could hang out with you nerds, see you out front after school?” She tried to sound relaxed and casual as she agreed, despite the nervous excitement in her at finally having some friends to chill with again.

“Yeah, we’ll meet you there.”

\---

As planned Marceline met up with Bonnibel and co, she mostly walked in silence, content to listen to her music and occasionally eavesdrop on Bonnibel chastising Finn and Jake for not studying enough while they begged for her help with an upcoming assignment. Whether out of pity or the fact they’d promised to get her a bunch of candy (she noted that apparently Bonnibel had quite the sweet tooth) she eventually relented. After her negotiations with Finn and Jake, she approached Marceline as they walked towards their destination and asked her a question.

“So, how do you know Mr. Petrikov?”

“Oh, Simon? Wait how do you know I know him?” She asked with curiosity.

Bonnibel shrugged and answered. “He offhandedly mentioned he usually brings the work you’ve missed to you when he asked me too, so I figured you probably knew him.”

“Well..yeah I do, he’s my uncle, on my mother’s side. He kinda raised me really. After my mum passed, my dad was constantly busy and on trips for his company, so Simon just started taking care of me whenever he wasn’t around, which was basically always. It wasn’t bad though, I was probably much better off with Simon rather than my dad.”

“Oh, I’m sorry about your mother Marceline, I didn’t mean too-“ Marceline interrupted her hurried apology.

“Don’t worry Bonnibel, it was a long time ago, I’ve moved on from it.” She reassured.

“So, Mr. Petrikov raised you then?”

“Yeah he did, Simon is great, you should’ve seen him when I tra-” She stopped herself mid-sentence. Finn and Jake were engrossed in their own conversation to the side, but she still didn’t want to risk them overhearing.

“I’ll tell you about it another time, but he was real supportive about it. Anyway, he always took care of me, and tried his best to keep me happy. He got me a dog when I was 6, he wanted to name him Gunter, I insisted on Schwabl because I thought it sounded funny, and he let me. He used to sing to me every so often, and I kinda…picked that up and he was overjoyed to discover I wanted to get into music. He’s been a big part of my life.”

Bonnibel nodded in acknowledgment with a slight smile on her face, commenting “That’s lovely Marceline.” Before silence settled over them for a short while as they reached their destination. As they took their place in line for the counter Marceline decided to hazard asking Bonnibel about her family.

“What about you Bonnibel? Your family and stuff?”

“Well, I live with my aunt and uncle. My parents died when I was very young, so I ended up moving in with them. They’re a bit strict, expect me to get good grades but that’s never really been a problem. As long as I keep that up and stay out of trouble they’re usually fine.” She shrugged slightly “They’re uptight but they raised me so I care for them you know? Though-“

Bonnibel was going to continue but was called up to the counter by one of the cashiers as she was next in line. Marceline was called up after to some nondescript cashier who seemed to look at her for a bit longer than was normal with a strange look and she couldn’t figure out why. As she placed her order for her strawberry milkshake however and heard the response it become clear what that look was exactly about.

“We’ll bring it to your table sir.”

_Oh fuck._

She should just correct him, she should be able to and just move on with her day but all the self-confidence she usually had disappeared the instant something like this happened, and her mind always overreacted and the usual issues she had under control started to overwhelm her.

Her anxiety spiked, memories in the back of her mind threatened to bubble to the surface and remind her of things she’d rather forget. Additionally, her own mind loved to betray her with its typical mix of self-hatred and internalized transphobia, berating her for every imagined detail that might’ve given her away.

Today her brain had decided to react particularly bad, and as the feeling of anxiety only spread and got worse, she could only think that she needed to get out before this turned into a public breakdown before her own negative thoughts overwhelmed her.

First though she had to give Bonnibel an excuse, so she didn’t think she’d just ditched her out of nowhere. A rather herculean effort considering her current state, but she wanted to keep this friendship if possible, so she walked over the table where Bonnibel was distracted with her phone.

“Something came up, I’ll catch you later okay Bonnibel?” She muttered out her rather bad excuse with regret. She hoped Bonnibel didn’t think the worst of the situation. Still it was a step up from the truth. Much better than ‘I got misgendered and am overreacting as always and about to have a breakdown, so I need to go.’

Bonnibel looked up at her with concern and begins to say something but hesitates. She seemed to decide against whatever she was going to say, instead just nodding and saying “Okay, see you later Marceline.” Her excuse given, Marceline rushed out as fast as she could and towards her home.

\---

She entered her home and slammed the door roughly behind her. She winced in regret the moment she did. _Shit._ Her father wasn’t going to be happy if that had left a mark on the door. Just another thing to worry about. And she’d left suddenly, she desperately hoped Bonnibel didn’t think she didn’t want to hang out with her because of how abruptly she left. Fuck she’d probably ruined that too hadn’t she. She felt so angry at herself, for being so easily overwhelmed and so weak. She wished she’d just be able to get pissed at the people who misgendered her, but as always, her mind found a way to turn it on herself, found a way to make it her fault for not being pretty or feminine enough. She sank down to the floor, and despite her best efforts to resist it, started crying.

She couldn’t even manage being misgendered by a stranger anymore without breaking down after-Nope, don’t think about those memories. Despite her best efforts they lingered in the back of her mind and she felt her panic and dysphoria rising. Negative thoughts and that constant gross feeling of her body wouldn’t go away. Every inch of her felt _disgusting_. A feeling she couldn’t get away from and just had to ride out until it passed. There wasn’t any chance of escape from the words that her own mind berated her with, resurfacing from memories. _Masculine. Guy. Failure._

She may as well just-

 _No. Calm yourself down Marcy. You promised Simon you wouldn’t if he let you live alone. Deep breaths._ She tried to steady her own breathing, despite the occasional sobs that refused to stop _._ As she managed to calm herself down slightly, she made her way to her bedroom, her eyes locked solidly to the floor as she did. It was best to avoid accidentally glancing in the mirror that loomed in the hallway, it wouldn’t help her to catch a look at herself in her current state.

After she’d navigated her way towards her bedroom, the minimal control she managed to gain over her breakdown slipped away once again. She dragged herself into bed, wrapping herself in a cocoon of blankets, crying as she searched for her old teddy bear. She managed to find him over the side of the bed and held him close as she started to cry.

After what felt like hours, she’d managed to regain a semblance of control and started to calm down. She felt exhausted after her breakdown and decided to just let herself sleep. She closed her eyes, held tightly onto her trustworthy companion Hambo, and fell off into a deep sleep as the crying subsided.

\----

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

Someone was banging at the door.

“Marceline! Open up, I know you’re in there.” She groaned. _Simon._ He was already here? She’d only missed like…4 days. Oh right. That explained it.

“Go away Simon!” She shouted at the door and added “No ones home!”

“Marceline, I can see you watching TV through the window.” She turned around, and there he was, in front of the door, with his blue glasses, suit and red bowtie he always insisted on wearing, holding a couple of shopping bags looking…concerned as usual.

“Now you know you aren’t getting better hiding in here from your problem, come open the door and tell me about what’s bothering you.” Marceline considered the offer for a moment. She then decided to be stubborn as always and hid herself under the blanket she was wrapped in, hoping he’d go away so she could continue being irresponsible and avoiding her issues.

“I’ve got some strawberries Marceline.” She poked her head out of the blanket. That was tempting, tempting but not good enough. “Even some of the chocolate covered ones you like.” Her stomach grumbled, threatening to betray her. _No, stay strong._ “And I got you Chinese.” And thus, her resistance crumbled.

She left the comforting embrace of the blanket as she went to open the door. Simon’s look of concern somehow got more worried after she opened the door and he got a closer look at her. She did have to admit she didn’t look that great. Her eyes were still red from a recent crying session, her hair was an unkempt mess as she hadn’t taken care of it for the past few days, and she hadn’t bothered to shower or shave either.

Simon quickly put the bags he was carrying down, and wrapped Marceline in a bone crushing hug. There was a part of her, fermented with teenage rebellion that felt like pulling away since it was embarrassing and not ‘cool’ to be hugged by your uncle. Unlike with her father though she couldn’t bring herself to pull away. Instead, she felt the dam that was her emotions break for what felt like the 100th time these past few days, as she quietly sobbed into his shoulder.

After she’d managed to compose herself, Simon picked up the bags and put them on the kitchen bench, realising the many emotional crying sessions had made her rather hungry, she went through the bags to acquire her Chinese food and started to eat. After a few minutes of Marceline quelling her hunger, Simon spoke up.

“Tell me what’s bothering you Marcy.”

“Do I have to Simon?”

“Well…no you don’t if you really don’t want too. But you’ve always said it helps to talk when somethings bothering with you.” She grunted in annoyance. She hated when he was right, but she may as well talk about it.

“I got misgendered at a store and…..had another breakdown.”

“Oh Marceline, is it because of-“

“Yeah, mostly. Sometimes it just gives me flashbacks and puts me right back there and…yeah. I had to bail on Bonnibel too so that made me panic even more about screwing that up.”

“You know you can call me right? Whenever you have breakdowns like this, I’m just a phone call away.”

“I know, I just should…be past it by now. I don’t want to have to rely on others and be weak.”

“It’s not weakness to ask others for help Marceline.”

“Maybe.” She sighed. It was true, she knew it was, but she felt so pathetic having to rely on others, like a burden.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, you’ve been through a lot and there’s only so much one person can handle.” He gave her a quick hug of reassurance, which Marceline reluctantly leaned into.

“Mmm” she murmured in agreement. Maybe it was time she started opening up more to people.

The ringing of the doorbell interrupted her thoughts. Someone was at the door. She reluctantly got up to answer the door for whoever was there.

“Marceline, don’t you need too.” he gestured towards her facial area. Oh right, shaving. She took a peek through the window to see who was at the door, and if she needed to bother cleaning up before seeing them. In front of the door was Bonnibel, holding a small container in her hand, who shot her a smile and gave a friendly wave as she noticed Marceline looking at her through the window.

“It’s just Bonnibel.”

“Bonnibel knows?” Simon asked in surprise.

“When you sent her round with the work I’d missed I opened the door without shaving so…yeah.”

“Oh Marceline I-“ She interrupted him by waving her hand dismissively.

“Don’t worry about it Simon. I mean yeah, you probably should’ve given a heads up but, Bonnibel’s been supportive and a good friend about it. She’s not that bad. For a nerd at least.”

“Ah, that’s good.” A slight smile rose on Simon’s face that she couldn’t quite decipher. Marceline decided to forgo trying to figure it out and opened the door to greet Bonnibel.

“Hi Marceline, I-oh Mr. Petrikov. Are you busy? I can come back later if you are.”

“I was just leaving Bonnibel, I just came to check up on Marceline here.” Simon shot her a look, motioning for her to invite Bonnibel in and stop being so antisocial. She rolled her eyes, but acquiesced to his silent request.

“Come in Bonnie, umm, just go chill in my room, it’s down the hall and to your left, while I say goodbye to Simon.” Bonnibel nodded in reply and made her way down the hall. After she had disappeared into her room Simon piped up.

“So, inviting a girl to your room huh?” Oh, so _that’s_ what that smile was about.

“Simon! No, just, ugh no it’s nothing like that. She’s just a friend. Not someone I’m interested in.” Marceline exclaimed, trying to keep herself from blushing and certainly ignoring the way her heart jumped from Simon’s implication. Nope, she wasn’t going to entertain _that_ idea.

“Alright alright, I’ll go though, I wouldn’t want to cramp your style.”

“I’ve just cried into your shoulder and my eyes are still all red, I think my style’s already been ruined.” She said with slight mirth.

“Don’t be like that! I think you’re still cool.”

“That just makes me feel even _more_ lame.” She groaned out in annoyance.

“Getting too cool for your old uncle Marceline? I’m hurt, you used to be so impressed by my magic tricks and thought I was the coolest.” He punctuated the end of his sentence with his best attempt at a ‘cool’ pose with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall. She was glad Bonnibel wasn’t here to see this, she might’ve died of embarrassment.

“I was eight! Ugh just go Simon, you’ve embarrassed me enough.” She tried to sound annoyed, but she couldn’t resist smiling at his dorkiness.

“Okay, I’ll let you hang out with you and your cool friends.” He gave her one final hug, which she returned with feigned reluctance. “Call me next time okay Marceline?”

“Mmm maybe.” She grunted out noncommittally, as she was released from the comforting hug.

“I’ll see you when you’re back at school.”

“See you then Simon.” She waved to him as he left and shut the door behind him.

Well, now she had to go talk to Bonnibel and see what she wanted. She wondered why the girl had come over with a container of some kind, she didn’t seem to have any reason to come over, but she was at least glad that she didn’t seem to hate her for having to bail the other day. As she was walking to her room she decided to take a quick smell of herself, as she did she wrinkled her nose in disgust. Okay, maybe shower first, then figure out why Bonnibel is here. As Marceline walked arrived and walked into her room she saw Bonnibel inspecting the plush toy that’d been left on her bed with a fond smile on her face, turning to Marceline with a questioning expression as she’d walked in.

_Fuck._

She’d found Hambo. What was she supposed to say. _Oh he’s just my teddy from when I was 5, and I still sleep with him most nights and occasionally talk to him when something bad happens. Yeah, great way to sound incredibly lame and weird Marcy._ She sighed, no way around this.

“He’s my teddy from when I was young….I keep him around cause I still like him n stuff.” She mumbled out her explanation to Bonnibel’s unspoken question.

“Marceline that’s….” _Weird. Freakish. Weak._

“Adorable.” She blinked in surprise. Well. That was an unexpected reaction. Her fear changed rapidly to embarrassment.

“It’s not adorable.” She muttered out her denial, with a lightly embarrassed blush on her cheeks.

Bonnibel just hummed in reply with a pleased smile on her face. Clearly, she disagreed. She thought to continue to disagree with Bonnibel, but instead let her think she was ‘adorable’ for keeping her old plush though, as she needed to ask her to wait for a bit.

“Hey uh, do you mind if I take a shower and clean myself up real quick? I haven’t for a few days and probably should.” _And I smell awful and don’t want to subject you to that._ She added in her head.

“Oh! Sure Marceline, I don’t mind waiting.” Bonnibel replied with that ever-present cheer in her voice.

“Sweet, thanks Bonnibel.”

She rushed over to her bathroom, trying to be done quick so as to not keep Bonnibel waiting too long. She took of the clothes she’d been wearing over the past couple days, put them in the washing machine along with some other clothes that were in the hamper and turned it on. After that she turned the shower on and after waiting for it to warm up stepped in.

She felt immensely relaxed as she did so. Despite her tendency to not shower when feeling bad, it felt greatly satisfying to wash herself, and tended to be refreshing to feel all the grime be washed away along with remnants of her stress. She shampooed her tangled mess of hair as best she could, then finished it off with conditioner, which made it only slightly less tangled. She wasn’t looking forward to getting all the knots out of her hair. She finished her shower in a fairly short time, and then dried herself off.

Now she just had to go to her room and get changed and then she could see Bonnibel. Oh. Right. Bonnibel was in her room. Where her clothes were. _Fuck_. She hadn’t thought to bring clothes into the shower. She briefly considered running away as that seemed a slightly less mortifying option, but inevitably had to resign herself to her fate brought on by forgetfulness. She wrapped a towel around her, making sure it was definitely secure because she didn’t need it falling and having this situation becoming even worse, before approaching her door and calling out. 

“Hey Bonnibel?”

“Yeah?” she responded.

“I um, need to get some clothes to change into after the shower, because I forgot to get them.”

“Oh.” She could’ve heard a pin drop in the immensely awkward silence.

_Act cool and casual Marceline, you can do it._

“So uh yeah just so you don’t freak out from how hot I look in just a towel.” She said with confidence she _really_ _didn’t_ have. All she received in reply was a slightly nervous laugh. She didn’t know if that was good or bad.

She rushed into her room as quickly as she could, grabbing a random pair of jeans and t-shirt, and sparing a glance at Bonnibel on her way out. Her face was completely red, and she could’ve sworn she’d seen Bonnibel stealing a glance at her as she’d turned looked at her but discarded the idea. Probably just her imagining things.

She quickly changed into her clothes, and after returning to her room awkwardly gave a quick apology. “Uh sorry about that.”

“Oh, it’s fine Marceline, don’t worry about it.”

“So what did you come over for anyway?”

“Oh yes I almost forgot. You hadn’t been at school for a few days and I decided to come round and bring you same baking and…check up on you.” She opened her container as she gave her explanation, motioning for Marceline to take some of the baking she’d made which seemed to be cinnamon buns.

“Thanks Bonnibel, that’s uh, really nice.” She still wasn’t quite sure what made Bonnibel so insistent on being kind to her, but she wasn’t going to question it. She took a cinnamon bun from the container and bit into it.

“Holy fuck these are good!” She exclaimed, before taking another bite.

“Marceline! Don’t be so…crass.” Bonnibel chastised slightly.

“What? They’re really good, the swearing’s a compliment.” She teased, her mouth still half full with cinnamon bun. That might be rude, but she never was one for etiquette.

She rolled her eyes slightly in annoyance, though it wasn’t too sincere judging by the pleased smile on her face. “Well I’m glad you think they’re good then, I spent a lot of effort making them, the process is actually quite fascinating really. Water’s put into flour and lets glutenin and gliadin link together to make form gluten proteins, it also activates enzymes in flour called amylases which break down starches into sugars, yeast feeds on these sugars and develops ethanol and CO2, helping inflate the dough and develop more flavour and-“ Bonnibel paused in the middle of her rambling that she’d gotten extremely invested in, noticing Marceline was staring at her, and cleared her throat.

“Sorry, I get excited about science, I’m probably boring you.” She said apologetically.

“No no, it’s…cute when you talk about nerdy stuff.” Marceline reassured. It was surprisingly more enjoyable to listen to her ramble on then she would’ve thought. 

Bonnibel just blushed and mumbled something under her breath Marceline couldn’t quite decipher.

“Thank you again for coming round though Bonnibel, it means a lot.” She said with as much sincerity as possibly. She wasn’t the most used to support, so she hoped her thanks for it didn’t sound fake.

“No problem Marceline.” She just accepted her thanks with that smile that always seemed to be on her face whenever Marceline saw her.

“Do you want to talk about-“ Bonnibel’s offer was interrupted by a ping from her phone. A look of annoyance passed over her face as she pulled out her phone and looked at the message and typed back. Her annoyance only rose as she received another message back and sighed in defeat.

“Sorry Marceline, I’ve got the get back home, my aunt and uncle don’t want me out much longer.”

“Really? It’s only like, 6 or something isn’t it.”

“Yes but, rules are rules, apparently.” There was a note of annoyance at the end of her sentence, but Marceline chose not to ask about it.

Bonnibel recovered her typical smile quickly however and with her usual cheer she said goodbye. “I’ll see you at school Marceline.”

“Sure, I’ll see you at school Bonnibel.” She hoped she’d be able to follow through on that slight promise soon, as she watched her leave.

She noticed Bonnibel had left the container of cinnamon buns behind, with a short note penned onto it in pretty handwriting that read ‘Hope you feel better soon’ punctuated with a small heart at the end. She grabbed another cinnamon bun as she put the small note on her nightstand, pondering the indecipherable question as to why Bonnibel was so kind to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So a couple days late, but here it is. This is likely as dark as its gonna get, I don’t really wanna mull on the more negative sides of being trans since I have enough of that irl, but yknow story needs conflict and growth and whatnot, but it’ll mostly be uphill and fluffy pining useless gays for the most part from hereon in. And yeah Marceline's hair in this is brown, literally only so I can have a hair dying scene with her, so that's why thats changed. Uhhh hopefully I wrote Simon okay, supportive trustworthy family isn’t a thing I’m familiar with so, hope that came across as ‘realistic’ and such. 
> 
> Also if you can’t tell most descriptions of anxiety and internalized transphobia, all that jazz will be based off mine since that’s how I typically experience it, so might be different from some other descriptions you might've seen cuz yknow, different people experience stuff differently. 
> 
> Also might be some typos, I'm p tired, apologies for any of them. Anyway, enjoy, and constructive criticism welcome as always


	3. Chapter 3

“Ughhhhh.” She groaned out as she buried her face in her arms. She was in trouble. She’d missed way too much of her science class, partly due to her tendency to not come into school often, mostly because she’d tune out in them or just ditch them altogether to avoid the stress that was _science_ and hang out with Finn and Jake. She’d picked it as an option since it didn’t seem too hard and regretted it almost immediately.

“Aw c’mon Marceline, hanging out with us isn’t that bad!”

Oh yes that was another source of annoyance. She’d tagged along with Finn and Jake, but it turns out Bonnibel had some club duties to attend to of some kind, after she’d finally made it to school as well! Bonnibel had sent her a bright smile in English earlier however, and that almost made all the effort to come in worth it. _Almost._

So she was stuck here with Finn, Jake and a couple of Bonnibel’s other usual friends, including one that looked like a rainbow threw up on her who always seemed to look at her oddly with some strange knowing smile whenever she talked with Bonnibel. She still wasn’t sure what on earth _that_ was about either.

“I’m groaning because I’ve screwed myself by missing too much science. Though being stuck hanging out with you two is almost as bad.” She muttered out, with a slight hint of sarcasm during the last sentence. Hanging out with them wasn’t _that_ bad after all.

Finn started on some slightly offended defence about how great it was to hang out with them. She tuned that out. Jake just laughed at her self-inflicted suffering. She flipped him off in response.

“It’s half your fault, you know, you two kept dragging me along with you whenever you ditched since you didn’t want to do it alone.” She mumbled out, trying to shift the blame for something that was mostly her fault.

“Hey! You were the one who started it! And you were all spooky about it too when you first asked us, so I wasn’t going to say no.” Jake shuddered slightly in remembrance of when they’d first met.

She chuckled at the memory. It was too bad they’d gotten used to her, freaking both of them out had been fun. Thanks to her taller than average height, especially for a girl, it’d been pretty easy to intimidate both of them and drag them along into hanging out with her when she first ditched. It’d been a lesson about some kind of physics, and she was damned if she’d have sat through _that_.

He continued. “Plus there was that time we ended up missing a whole day because you dragged us along to smok-“

“Shhhhhhh, I told you not to tell anyone about that.” She hushed him. She initially wanted them to keep quiet, so people didn’t get the impression she was out to make friends. Now she just didn’t want it getting back to Bonnie she’d engaged in certain substances from time to time. Bonnibel seemed like she might be one of those uptight types that’d disapprove. She was a nerd after all. 

As the conversation turned into silence, Bonnibel’s rainbow friend whose name she distantly remembered as being Lady, piped up “You could ask Bonnibel for help.” She said with a small quirk of a knowing smile.

“Oh yeah Marceline! We get help from Bonnibel all the time with school, you could tag along to one of our study sessions.” Finn agreed, rather excitedly as usual.

“I mean, they are only kinda study sessions. We eventually just get distracted by video games or try use them as an excuse to drag Bonnibel away from study to hang out with us.”

At that moment Bonnibel happened to arrive at the table, having finished her club activities early it seemed. She considered asking her to help with study, but anxiety made her reconsider. She’d already asked her for help with one thing, what if study was too much? Staying silent and figuring this out on her own might be a better option.

“Marceline’s got something she wants to ask you.” Lady commented as Bonnibel sat down, ruining her possible plans to just stay silent.

She shot Lady a quick look of annoyance and anger. She’d been put on the spot, and she wasn’t sure why it was Lady who’d done so either. She looked over to Bonnibel who sent her a questioning look. She may as well relent and ask Bonnibel then.

“Can you help me out with my science work Bonnibel? Please? I’ve missed out on some of it so I kinda need some help.”

Bonnibel paused, as if considering the request for a moment. “Sure, I can help you study and catch you up on science if you need it.” She responded, with the same bright smile that she always seemed to have.

“Thanks Bonnibel.”

“Awesome! We’ll tag along too and we can all study together.” Finn exclaimed.

“No, you two barely focus and try to drag me away from study. Plus especially if I’m with Mar-I mean, if I’m studying with others I don’t want to get distracted as usual with you both.” She chastised them both.

“Aw c’mon Bonnibel, we won’t distract you, and we really need help. You’re helping Marceline and she didn’t even have to offer candy!” Jake complained.

“You two have to offer candy because you owe me for distracting me from study all the time.” She stated.

“Can we please come along? If we do get distracted, we won’t bother you and Marceline.” Finn promised.

“We’ll even get you a big pack of that bubblegum you like?” Jake offered, as an attempted bribe.

“Fine. You better not distract me and Marceline from studying though.” She stated with a defeated sigh.

“You’re the best Bonnibel.”

\---

_Pop._

The sound of a bubble popping occurred once again. She’d been hearing it every so often, whenever Bonnibel withdrew from giving her assistance to figure out how to solve some physics problem which just looked like a jumble of letters, numbers and symbols to her, at least until Bonnibel helped her figure it out. Usually, the presence of sound distracted her too much, but the ambience of the occasional pop of bubblegum; along with the chattering of Finn and Jake as they played some video game after giving up on study half an hour in, made for pleasant background noise.

There’d been a great temptation to join them and slack off, but she really _did_ have to at least get a couple papers done right so she didn’t fail the whole class. Not to mention she didn’t want to risk another lecture from Bonnibel. She’d already received one after Bonnibel discovered exactly how much information Marceline needed to catch up on and made study plans for the future to help her more. She’d have complained but being around Bonnibel more wasn’t something she was about to be bitter about, even if it was going to involve her having to study. 

Nonetheless she was still bored out of her mind, so she decided to make the studying of pain a bit easier by making some conversation with Bonnibel. “Why are you chewing gum?”

“It helps retention of information, makes studying easier.” She shrugged slightly and continued on. “Or at least, that’s the excuse I use, some studies disagree on the matter actually. I mostly just like the taste, and it lasts longer than most other candy, so cheaper long term.” She blew another bubble, which quickly popped. “And blowing bubbles is fun as well.” She finished.

“I’ve never been able too blow bubbles, could never figure it out.” Marceline commented.

“Really? I could try teach you. We could use a small break anyway.”

Her head was starting to ache from a whole hour of interrupted study (practically a thousand years in her terms) so she’d take the opportunity to catch a break. “Sure Bonnibel.”

Bonnibel grabbed a piece of gum from her bag and proceeded to hand it to Marceline. The piece of bubblegum was placed into her hand, Bonnibel’s hand withdrawing before pausing as their fingertips touched, staying there for a short moment longer than would be normal. She felt her heart flutter a bit, and she wasn’t sure why. She’d just put that down to being nervous. That was all. She was nervous and Bonnibel had probably just spaced out or something which’d led to their fingers touching for a bit too long.

Bonnibel cleared her throat slightly, a faded pink resting on her cheeks as she did so. “Anyway, you just need to chew it for a while, it’s too stretchy at first usually, so you need to chew it and let the polymers in the gum break down into smaller polymer chains. So just wait for a bit of de-polymerization to occur via chewing. Then-

“Bonnibel, in less science terms please. I’ve had enough science for one day, even if it’s some of your cute science rambling.” Marceline interrupted.

“There’s no such thing as enough science.” She responds, her face a bit flushed from the slight compliment. Marceline just rolls her eyes in response.

Bonnibel continues “But I’ll put it in more simple terms. Just chew it until it’s a bit less stretchy, there’s slightly less flavour, then just press it against the roof of your mouth and teeth to flatten it, push your tongue slightly into it, then just blow and you’ll get a bubble.”

Marceline followed her instructions, chewing the gum, and after a while of trying to flatten it she’d managed to get a hang of that step. A few failed attempts at pushing her tongue into the gum without it breaking later, she managed to do well enough to attempt to blow a bubble. She promptly blew way too hard, creating a small bubble which popped instantly and left her looking like a dork blowing at nothing.

Bonnibel just giggled lightly at her failed attempt.

“What? It’s hard!” She defended.

She’d show Bonnibel, it was just blowing a bubble, she’d be able to blow a huge bubble and impress Bonnibel…or do it out of spite for her laughing. She tried once again and managed to get another bubble going. Which she managed to get bigger. And bigger. Ha! She’d shown Bonnibel, she could totally blow an awesome bubble. Just as she was mentally congratulating herself, she noticed Bonnibel was talking to her.

“Marceline you might want to-“

_Pop._

The bubble of a substantial size popped and spread bubblegum completely over the lower half of her face. Bonnibel wasn’t much help in the predicament, she was just laughing at her, and seemingly taking a picture with her phone. She glared at her in an attempt to silence Bonnibel, but that only seemed to make her laugh more. Maybe trying to be intimidating with half her face covered in gum wasn’t effective. She pulled the gum stuck to her face off delicately, and dispensed it in the rubbish along with the gum the remained in her mouth. She’d had enough of bubblegum for one day.

“You’ve got gum in your hair.” Bonnibel commented. Marceline felt minor panic. She’d heard gum was hard to get out, and she’d spent so long growing her hair out, she didn’t want to have to cut it, especially since shorter hair could be more risky.

Bonnibel seemed to notice her predicament “Don’t worry it’s just a tiny bit.” She reassured. “I’ll help you get it out. I’ve got a bit of experience with this anyway.”

She reached out for a small bunch of Marceline’s hair, close to her face which must’ve been where the gum had been caught. The knuckles of Bonnibel’s fingers traced against her cheek every so often, as she delicately picked out bits of gum from Marceline’s hair. She noticed as they were close that Bonnibel painted her nail’s pink, and that they were short. She hadn’t seen them before, they were a beautiful, pastel pink shade, which matched her hair. She also briefly wondered why she kept them short, Bonnibel seemed like the kind of girl to have long nails. Must just be a fashion choice.

“Your fingernails, they’re uh, pretty Bonnibel.” Marceline complimented awkwardly. She hoped that hadn’t seemed weird.

“Oh, thanks Marceline.” Bonnibel responded, with that same sweet smile that she always wore. A pleasant silence settled over them and Bonnibel continued the process of picking out stray pieces of gum from Marceline’s hair.

During this Marceline tried to figure out source of the slight fluttery feeling that occurred whenever Bonnibel was close to her, which intensified whenever the back of Bonnibel’s hand gently bumped against her cheek as she slowly picked gum out of her hair. Maybe it was just having a friend she could trust. That was it. Probably. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Hey y’all, kinda short chapter here, but I felt like I had to put something up and give an update, a sister of mine passed, so I haven’t really been able to write the past couple weeks since been busy dealing with that, so hopefully this isn’t too bad since kinda been a bit out of it and all. Might be some typos, I'll try take care of them later if there still are, feels good to get back to writing though to be honest.
> 
> Anyway I've got a longer chapter on the way, and I’ll try my best to have that up in the next few days or so to make up for lost time, anyway, enjoy this short one, the next will have more slight hints of gayness and be longer I think so look forward to that, and constructive criticism welcome as always.


	4. Chapter 4

She threw off the third change of clothes she’d put on today. No matter what she put on it didn’t seem…good enough. She’d put it down to dysphoria usually but for some reason she was nervous about Bonnibel coming over. She needed to wear something nice but also something she wouldn’t mind getting possible bits of hair dye on if an accident occurred.

Maybe she should wear a skirt? One that could show off her legs and-wait what was she even doing. What was she even worrying about? She was just a friend coming over, she shouldn’t feel the need to impress her, or to look good. She should just put on a random shirt and some old pants. That’s what she would do. She didn’t need to impress Bonnibel. Not one bit. She ignored the feeling in the back of her mind that told her otherwise. She decided to just put on something simple, a grey shirt and some blue shorts. She considered putting on her old varsity jacket she had lying around to complete the look but decided it against it, she didn’t want to risk ruining it with dye, ignoring the constant feeling that told her to wear it and impress Bonnibel for some weird reason.

After changing, she still felt the presence of anxiety that’d become a bit more common around Bonnibel. She wasn’t sure why, she trusted Bonnibel, but she felt…wary around her. Especially of screwing up. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She’s just a girl, she didn’t need to be afraid. Well maybe a little, girls _were_ kinda scary after all. _Especially really cute ones like Bonnie._ She thought to herself. Wait where had that come from? When had she mentally given Bonnibel a nickname?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a ringing at the door. That must be Bonnibel. She made her way towards the door and opened it to greet her. Bonnibel was standing there, smile ever present on her face, dressed in a simple and surprisingly pink-lacking outfit. She was wearing simple blue jeans, a white shirt with a pocket near the breast, and had a green and white cap on.

After recovering from the shock of seeing Bonnibel in an outfit without a trace of pink (ignoring her hair of course) she realised how well Bonnibel wore other colours, she looked really good.

“You look nice Bonnibel. Decided to test out colours other than pink?” She couldn’t resist teasing her slightly for her tendency to dress mostly along the pink colour scale.

“Thanks Marceline, you look nice too. Though I see you’ve not branched out and stuck to greys and blues as usual.” Bonnibel responded teasingly.

“Hey! I don’t wear blue that often.” Marceline defended.

“It’s still in your comfort zone though, maybe I could help you really branch out, you could try on some of my pink sometime.”

“Maybe if you let me dress you up in my clothes, I will.” She responded.

“Deal.” Bonnibel said with a smile as she walked into Marceline’s house. _Shit._ She hadn’t expected Bonnibel to accept. Maybe she’d forget about the informal offer. Hopefully.

She set down a small bag she was carrying in the lounge, then turned around and asked “So, where’s the hair dye.”

“Oh it’s in the bathroom, I’ll go get it.” She went and grabbed the box of dye that rested next to the sink, brining it back and handing it to Bonnibel.

“I’ll prepare this, while you go get seated in the bathroom and we can start dying your hair.”

Marceline grabbed a seat from the kitchen and moved it over to the bathroom and seated herself as Bonnibel was preparing the dye. She returned quickly with it, gloves on, and with Marceline having wrapped an old towel around her neck and chest to try protect her shirt, Bonnibel began dying her hair, starting at first with the ends of her long mane of hair.

Marceline mulled over a question that’d been in the back of her mind for a while, annoying her, so as Bonnie began the rather long process of dying her hair, brushing layer by layer, she decided to ask it. “Why didn’t you out me?”

Bonnibel was taken aback for a second, but quickly regained her composure and resumed dying Marceline’s hair. “Apart from not being a terrible person? I’m gay. It’s not the same thing of course by any measure, but solidarity and all you know? I certainly wouldn’t want to be outed against my will after all.”

“Oh, cool, I’m Bi myself, are you like, out to anyone out of curiosity?” She questioned.

“Finn, Jake, Lady, a couple other friends.” She paused for a moment in thought, before adding “I’ve also rejected enough guys that someone started a rumour that I’m gay, but not many people take it seriously so don’t think that counts. You out to anyone?”

“Na, well Simon knows, everyone at my previous school did since someone outed me, but here I haven’t told anyone, apart from you of course.” She explained.

“That’s fair, I’d be cautious too with your experience, plus people can be less accepting of trans people from what I’ve heard.” Bonnibel commented.

“Yeah, people tend to be pretty trash about it. My band back in my hometown were all cool with it, but most at the school…well it wasn’t good.” She tried to keep the memories that surfaced as she mentioned her experience in the back of her mind.

“You played in a band?” She asked, with slight surprise.

“Yeah, played bass and was the lead singer. We were called Marceline and The Scream Queens. There was Bongo who played drums, Guy who played keyboard, and Keila who played guitar. They were all pretty supportive with me being trans. Keila actually even helped me out with learning makeup and stuff since I didn’t have a mum to help teach me and all.”

“Aw, that’s sweet. Do you still play? And hey, if you need any help with makeup or any of that, you can come to me.”

“I’m good mostly, got the hang of makeup after enough practice. Thanks, though Bonnie. But yeah, I do still play and sing, I take music in school after all.”

“Maybe you could play for me sometime?” Bonnibel asked.

“Maybe I will.” Marceline replied with a smile.

A comfortable silence set over them as Bonnibel focused on the long and arduous process of dying Marceline’s long and plentiful hair.

Bonnibel interrupted it with a question as she finished the ends of her hair and started moving towards the roots. “So, you dating anyone at the moment? Leave any broken hearts behind in your hometown?”

Marceline let out a little chuckle. “No, definitely not. I didn’t really try dating much before being outed because I was scared of people finding out, and afterwards most people stayed away from me. There was this one guy but…he treated me like trash, so I eventually broke up with him, and haven’t been interested in anyone here. What about you?”

“Same really, I was with one girl, but she up and moved away without telling me, so that ended and haven’t been really interested in anyone since.” A light blush rises to Bonnibel’s cheeks as she continues “Well mostly, there is this one girl I’ve actually had my eye on for quite a while, since the beginning of the year, but I don’t think it’ll happen.”

“Oh, does Bonnibel have a crush?” Marceline says with a sly grin on her face.

“Shush you, I’m the one dying your hair you know, I might…get some dye on your skin which’ll be difficult to wash out. Fear me.” Bonnibel says as she waved the brush around in a vaguely threatening gesture.

“Oh please spare me your legendary wrath. Who is it though? Do I know them?”

“Well, um, she’s, yeah you do know her. She goes to our school. That’s the most I’m saying though.” Bonnibel finishes with brushing the base of Marceline’s hair, and proceeds to start to clip it up, so it’s out of the way while the dye soaks, trying to keep herself focused on the task while the light blush on her cheeks turns a deeper shade of red.

“Aw, c’mon, give me the deets Bonnie, what’s her name? What’s she like? Is she cute?”

“I’m not telling you Marceline, now quiet, let me focus on clipping up your hair.” Bonnibel quickly finishes up her task. As she does however, she’s met with Marceline making her best pouting face at her through the mirror. She rolls her eyes at the gesture but can’t help giving in a little.

“Fine, well…she is cute, very cute in fact. But that’s all you’re getting.” Bonnibel proceeds to remove the dye-stained gloves as she grumbles out her answer.

“Is she someone I’m friends with? I could totally try set you up if you want.” Marceline says the last part with a slight smirk on her lips.

Bonnibel starts to sputter out a reply but the doorbell rings and interrupts her failure to answer. “Oh, Pizza’s here.” Marceline notes. Bonnibel rushes out the bathroom rather quickly to avoid further interrogation, while trying to calm down the blush on her face.

She considered the conversation they’d had for a minute while Bonnibel answered the door to grab their pizza’s. Bonnibels a lesbian? She wondered about the possibility of….Nope, nope nope nope nope, cast that thought away, never gonna happen. Even if she is gay that doesn’t mean she’d be…interested in someone like her. Definitely not. No, she didn’t have a chance in hell, especially with Bonnibel having a crush on some other normal cis girl.

\----

After convincing herself of the hopelessness of Bonnibel ever being interested in her, she met Bonnibel at the door who was struggling to hold up a couple of pizza boxes, a soft drink and some garlic bread.

Marceline grabbed a pizza box and soft drink off Bonnibel to relieve her of her struggle and walked into the living room and sat herself down on the couch. Bonnibel disappeared for a bit, entering the room a bit later with a couple glasses.

As she poured their soft drinks, she asked Marceline a question out of the blue. “You mentioned the other day that Mr. Petrikov, was supportive about something and said you’d tell me sometime. I’m pretty curious about it so I was wondering if you could tell?” Bonnibel asked.

The other day was when…shit. She felt anxiety course through her as memories she tried to keep away most days flooded back. She kept herself as calm as she could. _It’s just a memory Marceline, calm down, nothing bad’s going to happen._ She reminded herself, trying relax herself so her time with Bonnibel wouldn’t be ruined.

Bonnibel had noticed her lack of response, and was looking at her with eyes full of concern. “You okay Marceline?”

“Yeah, just spaced out a bit sorry.” She lied. She didn’t want to get into that stuff with Bonnibel. At least yet, she’d rather just get her mind off it.

“Oh, the question right.” She remembered and proceeded to answer it.

“It was when I transitioned, he was..well as supportive as you can ask for really. Like when I told him the name I chose and said I wanted him to use it. Simon’s a bit haphazard with things, he’s really forgetful sometimes, so to make sure he didn’t screw up my name he put little post its around his home office and other rooms of the house so he’d like..get used to calling me Marceline sooner. It was…really reassuring to see how much he cared. I mean he still slipped a few times at first, but it wasn’t often enough for me to feel disappointed. Plus the amount of effort he was putting it made it clear he really was trying his best.

“The first thing he did actually, after I told him, is ask if I wanted to have the name stitched into my teddy bear, Hambo, replaced with the name I told him I’d chose. I said yes and the next day after I got back Hambo was on my bed with my name on a piece of fabric that was stitched onto him. I went over to thank him, and his fingers were absolutely covered with band aids.” She laughs lightly at the memory.

“Simon couldn’t sew to save his life, said my mum tried to teach him the skill but he could never get the hang of it and gave up trying to learn. He’d ended up pricking his own fingers a bunch of times while trying to sew my name on. I was even worried about him having injured himself, but he said that it wasn’t anything major and it was worth it to see a real smile on my face for the first time in a long while.

“He did a bunch of nice stuff though. Took down old photos, helped with my name and gender change, convinced my dad to give his permission for me to go on hormones, it was…really nice. Honestly the last one saved me a lot of stress, my dads…well not the best, and the last thing I needed when going through all that stuff was my dad questioning me thoroughly on it when I was still figuring stuff out.” She finished, and a silence settled over them.

“Sorry, I kinda rambled on there a bit.” Marceline stated awkwardly in the silence that had come over them.

“No, it’s, it’s really nice to hear that you had someone who really cared about you and had your back when it came to that stuff.” Bonnibel paused for a moment as she seemed to do whenever she was thinking something over. She then continued. “And if you ever need support from me Marceline, I’m always here.”

“Thanks Bonnibel.” She said, a slight warmth in her heart from the offer of support. She wasn’t quite ready yet but…knowing Bonnibel was there was nice to hear.

After their conversation, Marceline turned the TV on for some background noise while she ate as it was a nervous habit. After they’d finished eating, Bonnibel mentioned it was about time for her to wash the dye out. Marceline took herself to the shower, and proceeded to rinse the dye out as it had done it’s job. After the lengthy process, and drying her hair as best she could with a towel she wouldn’t mind getting whatever leftover dye there was on, she changed and went back down to Bonnibel, with a brush and hair-dryer so Bonnibel could assist her in drying her dyed hair and making sure it looked nice.

Bonnibel was more than happy to help, and as she started drying Marceline’s hair, she decided to as usual make conversation and ask questions.

“You said earlier you had friends at your old town? Do you miss them?”

“Well…yeah. I miss a lot about them. Like my friends here are great, especially you Bonnibel, you’re a definite equal to my old friends, but yeah Bongo, Guy and Keila were, y’know I could hang out and jam and relax with them and I haven’t found anything like that here. I miss our jam sessions that went until way too late so Keila’s parents basically threw us all out so they could get some sleep. I miss sneaking alcohol past Simon with them as we hung out in our room. He usually figured it out but let us drink anyway, coming up in the morning with water, Panadol and breakfast, knowing I’d have a hangover. I miss coming up with weird songs while half-drunk about that time my dad stole my fries or whatever else. I mean I…had to move, I couldn’t stay there, and it was good for me to get away from some of it but, doesn’t make me miss them any less.” She explained.

“You sneaked alcohol?” Bonnibel questioned.

“Well, Simon knew, but he dealt with it as long as I didn’t get myself drunk outside or in some party I couldn’t find my way back home from. I think he figured it’d just be easier to keep an eye on me if I was allowed to drink at home. Not that I was young, 16 so, not _that_ far off legal age. Especially after I got outed, he worried a lot about something bad happening if I went out to a party and ended up alone somehow.” _Not that he was wrong to worry_.

“Huh, I wonder what you’re like drunk.” Bonnibel mumbled out, offhandedly.

“Not that different, bit more confident, less anxious? Around friends there’s barely a difference. I am a bit more of a showoff with my music though. Has an upstanding student like yourself ever gotten drunk?” She finished with slight sarcasm.

“A couple times. It’s..not hard for me, I have a very low tolerance for alcohol.” Bonnibel replied nonchalantly.

Marceline smirked. “Hey maybe I can get you drunk sometime. Could even try to get you to spill the secret of your crush.” She chuckled slightly as she finished for effect. Bonnibel just hit her on the head with the brush she was using (though very gently)

“Ow! What was that for?” She asked, pretending it hurt and totally knowing why she deserved it.

“You know why.” Bonnibel stated, as she finished drying her hair.

“Your hair looks pretty in black. The colour suits you Marceline.” Bonnibel commented as she started to brush Marceline’s long hair.

 _Pretty._ The word echoed through Marceline’s head. She tried (and failed) to prevent herself from blushing at the light compliment. She wasn’t exactly used to being described as such, even in a friendly, platonic, girls-who-are-friends way, apart from Keila, but even then she hadn't been the type to compliment often. She couldn’t deny that it felt nice to be called it though. It was an unfamiliar experience, but by no means an unpleasant one.

\----

Bonnibel was just finishing off brushing Marceline’s hair, and as she was finishing brushing some hair to the side, her hand skirted a bit too close to Marceline’s neck and she had to suppress a giggle slightly. Bonnibel seemingly didn’t notice, and finished without comment. At least that’s what she had thought.

Marceline turned around as Bonnibel finished, and saw she had a small smile at the edges of her lips. 

“Are you ticklish Marceline?” Bonnibel asked, voice a bit _too_ casual sounding.

“No, of course not.” She lied as best she could. She hoped Bonnibel didn’t see through it.

Bonnibel just grinned at her. “Well, then you won’t mind if I test it out.”

“Wait wh-“ She didn’t even get to realise the implication before Bonnibel pounced at her and started tickling Marceline’s sides.

“B-Bonibeeelll.” She barely got a word out before Bonnibel’s tickling overwhelmed her into fits of laughter.

“What was that? I can’t hear you Marceline, turns out you are ticklish but since you said you weren't, I just need to really make sure.” She said as she continued her tickle attack.

“F-Fuck y-y-ou” she said in response, trying to resist the urge to laughing, and doing a very bad job at doing so.

“Language Marceline” She chastised, laughing slightly at Marceline’s predicament.

“O-Okay, St-Stooooop Bonnibel.” She pleaded. As she did Bonnibel’s brief tickling attack subsided.

“Guess you are ticklish huh Marceline?” Bonnibel commented.

“Shut up you-“ She paused as she stared up, realising Bonnibel was on top of her.

Bonnibel was staring back her, very intently. Marceline wasn’t sure why she was, but the staring made her own heart speed up considerably. She noticed there was a slight gloss on Bonnibel’s lips that she noticed just now. She must’ve been wearing lip gloss. She wondered what flavour, if they did have a flavour. Strawberries seemed like they might fit Bonnibel, it was one of her own personal preferred flavours. Or maybe one of those brands that did those candy flavours, like bubblegum or liquorice. That’d make sense too considering her sweet tooth. She supposed she could always find out, if Bonnibel wasn’t so high above her just…staring. Not that she wanted to kiss Bonnibel, she was just…curious about what her lip gloss tasted like. She wondered what was going through her head. Was she thinking something similar? Wondering what Marceline’s lips tasted like? No, that…wouldn’t be the case for someone like her, considering what Marceline was. She was likely just spaced out or something. She continued to look over Bonnibel and noticed something on her shirt.

“You’ve got dye on your shirt.” She commented.

Bonnibel looked down, and inspected the damage, a dark stain had formed near the hem of her shirt, on the left side. Her expression turned to one of frustration, she must’ve gotten it on her while dying Marceline’s hair and not noticed. It was a white shirt as well, so stains would be especially difficult to get out. She supposed Bonnibel could stay in her stained shirt, but it seemed rude not to offer a replacement considering her help.

“Do you uh, wanna borrow one of mine?” Marceline asked.

“Oh.” Bonnibel paused for a moment, considering the offer, before replying “Yes, that’d be nice.” With a light blush on her cheeks for some reason Marceline couldn’t figure out. She’s probably just hot or something, the temperature had been high lately after all.

“Could you uhhh, move? I’m kinda trapped?” she pointed out.

Bonnibel’s eyes widened a bit, having apparently not fully realised their position before. “Oh, yeah sorry.” She said as she moved off Marceline. For some reason Marceline felt slightly regretful as Bonnibel removed herself.

“It’s fine.” Marceline replied, as she got up to dig through her wardrobe in order to find a shirt for Bonnibel.

She went to her room and opened her drawer of shirts and starts to dig through them. After a while she found one she could let Bonnibel have for a while. An old black band shirt of some kind, with a cake pop and a marshmallow impaled on stakes, and a snake coiled under them. She wore it often enough, it was a pretty rad image, but was happy to let Bonnibel borrow it for a while. With it in hand, she returned down the stairs, and gave the shirt over.

“Here, this should work for now.” She said.

“Thanks Marceline.” Bonnibel said, her cheeks still a bright shade of red for some reason.

Bonnibel proceeded to remove her shirt, rather slowly as well, and during it Marceline found herself staring for a brief moment as she caught a glimpse of Bonnibel’s stomach. It was smooth, pale, with a slight blemish to the side of her navel piercing-wait her navel piercing? _Holy fuck._ Bonnie had a navel piercing, one with pink studs and-oh shit she was totally staring. She turned to stare at the wall opposite Bonnibel and made sure she didn’t turn back around to stare at Bonnibel and her pierc- _nope keep your eyes on the wall Marceline_. She reminded herself mentally. Why had Bonnibel even started unchanging right there? I mean they were both girls, so it wasn’t that strange, but usually she’d not have such an embarrassing reaction.

Why was she always so nervous around Bonnibel? Her thoughts wandering to certain subjects like how’d Bonnibel’s lips would taste wasn’t helping either. The most likely explanation would be…nope, not following that train of thought. What she was feeling and thinking couldn’t be that, and she definitely hadn’t been ogling Bonnibel’s stomach at all, even for a brief moment. She’d just been shocked. Yeah, that was it, and stared a bit in confusion. That was all, and her emotions were going crazy just from the surprise. That made sense.

Bonnibel tapped Marceline on the shoulder, interrupting her attempts at mental self-assurance, signaling her to turn around. Right, turn around, and just ignore thinking about Bonnibel’s piercing. She managed the first part of the plan. But as she turned around and looked at Bonnibel she said the first thing that came to mind. Which was the last thing she wanted to say.

“You’ve got a navel piercing.” she said dumbly as she stared at Bonnibel.

“Yep. You’ve got cartilage piercings. Quite a few in fact.” she replied.

Well. Bonnibel didn’t mind she noticed her piercing. That was a good sign at least. That she didn’t see Marceline staring or at least didn’t think she was a creep. “Oh..yeah, they’re empty now since I was dying my hair. Did you notice them before?” she asked.

“Yeah, they’re noticeable when your hairs clipped up. What piercings do you put on?”

“I’ve got a few, some rings, studs, and a couple of spikes even, depending on my mood I put whatever suits in. I wear them often but, mostly keep them hidden under my hair at school since yknow, school can be strict about those kinda piercings. I’ve even got a tattoo actually, as well.” Marceline explained.

“You’ve got a tattoo? Can I see it? Please?” Bonnibel begged, she actually seemed pretty excited for some reason.

“Okay, I just need to lift my shirt up a bit since it’s on my ribcage just so you don’t, think I’m doing anything else.” She said nervously, and cursing herself internally for being so awkward all the time.

She lifted up her shirt up to just under her chest, and there was a tattoo of a bat that was on her right side. It was a bat, with big green eyes, long legs and arms that ended in claws, sharp vampiric fangs, big bat ears and nose and thin tattered wings. It was also very fluffy.

“Marceline, this is absolutely adorable.” Bonnibel stated, giggling slightly, but also enraptured by how adorable she found it.

“Not it’s not! It’s supposed to be like scary and spooky.” She exclaimed.

“It’s a fluffy bat.” She pointed out, smile on her face.

“A fluffy bat with green demon eyes! And claws! And evil tattered wings!” She defended. Okay even with those additions it did sound less intimidating when she spoke the fact it was a fluffy bat out loud.

“It’s still totally cute. Can I touch it?” Bonnibel asked.

“Oh yeah uh, sure.” Marceline said, trying to keep cool and stay annoyed at the fact Bonnibel thought her tattoo was _cute_ of all things. It was just a really pretty girl touching her tattoo. Nothing to freak out about. Okay, everything to freak out about in reality, she hadn’t exactly prepared herself for this possibility, even just in a platonic capacity. Especially since others…no, she didn’t need to worry. Bonnibel wasn’t like that.

Marceline felt Bonnibel’s fingers skirt over the surface of her ribcage and laughed slightly. Despite her nervousness she was still ticklish it seemed. Bonnibel ignored it however. Tracing her fingers over the outline of the tattoo and admiring it. “It’s really beautifully done.” She commented absentmindedly, looking over interesting details like the strange shape of the wings.

“How’d you even get it?” she asked, as she removed her fingers from the tattoo, Marceline putting her shirt back down after she did. 

“Keila’d gotten drunk one night and started going on about how we should all get tats for ‘rock band cred’. She came up with some ideas, and next morning we decided it was actually a cool idea and after touching up the designs with a local artist got them done. I got this bat one, Keila also got a bat one, but a bit bigger and it looked a bit scarier, Bongo got a ghost, and Guy got this like, rad shapeshifty one. It was like, half a normal dude, and half a weird, shapeshifted mess like the monster from The Thing. We all got spooky ones because that was our bands aesthetic. Plus we all were total horror fans anyway, it was so awesome.”

“The Thing?”

“Y’know the old 80’s movie? Horror film?”

“Never seen it, I don’t really watch Horror, it spooks me out too much.”

“You haven’t? Oh my god Bonnie we should totally watch The Thing, if you’ve never seen it, we have to, it’s like, a classic.” She grinned evilly as she grabbed her copy from the shelf. “Just try not to get too scared.”

She popped in the disk and sat on the couch next to Bonnibel. Who then proceeded to give Marceline the closest thing to a gay heart attack possible by resting her head on her shoulder. Trying her best to stay calm she thought to ask her why. But Bonnibel could seemingly sense her confusion and/or panic and gave an explanation. “I get scared easily. If we’re watching horror movie, I get your shoulder to hide in if it gets scary.” She stated.

Marceline could live with watching more horror movies with Bonnibel if this was the ‘price’ she had to pay to do so.

\----

“Oh come on!” Bonnibel said for about the 15th time during the film. Her fear of horror movies rapidly had turned to annoyance as she started to nitpick all the science errors or plot issues in the film. “He has this computer program, in the 80s, which somehow figures out with like no data, about how fast this organism will take over the world? And why do they have flamethrowers? They don’t even take flamethrowers down to Antarctica! It’s completely bonkers!” She complained.

“Wouldn’t they need it to de-ice things?” Marceline asked.

“They’d use something more accurate for that! Not a military grade flamethrower which they’re using here judging by the flames.” She pointed out.

“Well, there is actually this short story from The Thing’s perspective that like, explains a few of the things you’ve complained about though. In it the Thing like gets into the computer and puts a bunch of fake gibberish in it, and Blair’s the only one who knows enough to knows its bullshit, but he’s already taken, and the Thing does it to trick them and make them freak out, it’s actually really cool.” She explained, excited to talk about details of a film with Bonnibel.

Bonnibel just stared at her, and after a silence a bit longer than was comfortable, Marceline replied to Bonnibel’s stare.

“What? Music’s like, my main thing, but I like other media too! I read books and watch movies and stuff.” She said defensively.

“Oh no no Marceline.” She says, waving her hands in front of herself defensively. “It’s just really nice to see you talk about things your interested in. I wasn’t judging you, it’s just interesting to see.”

“Okay. You sure you don’t mind me talking about the film?” She checked, to calm her own anxiety.

“Please, I’ve been doing it so you’re welcome too as well. Help me appreciate it more despite its glaring science errors.” Bonnibel said.

“Will do Bonnibel.”

Marceline and Bonnibel spent the remainder of their time together, bringing up movie facts and complaining about science errors respectively about the Thing. As they finished the movie Bonnibel checked the time, and realised it was time to leave. Marceline led Bonnibel to the door and they said their goodbyes.

“It was really nice hanging out with you tonight Marceline.”

“Yeah, same. Thanks for helping with hair dye and all, it was a big help.”

“Anytime. I’ll see you at school then Marceline.” Bonnibel said as she turned to walk away.

“See you Bonnibel.”

As she watched Bonnibel leave, she thought on the feeling she had around her. She couldn’t figure it out. She felt a weird nervousness around Bonnibel, but always liked being around her and hated seeing her leave. She always felt better whenever Bonnie was around and though she generally enjoyed compliments, Bonnibel’s were always special and made her feel like nothing else. And despite her dislike of studying and science, Bonnibel’s little tangential ramblings on it were always cute as well as interesting. She had this way of speaking that captivated her attention, and her smile whenever Marceline managed to get the hang of something in science always made her heart jump and made her want to keep doing well. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think she had a crush. That’d be silly right. Right? That’s when she realised. Or more accurately when she stopped trying to deny it. She totally had a crush.

_Oh fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a chapter that’s mostly just nice and pleasant and Bonnibel and Marceline hanging out, so enjoy this.
> 
> Also get used to Marceline being incredibly ignorant of Bonnibel’s hints that she has a thing for her, it’s only going to get more obvious and Marceline’s not going to get more observant, because useless lesbians is real, and fuck am I ever one, so I love writing it. Trying to add in some notes of self-deprecation to it though, since in my experience the whole useless lesbian thing comes less from just lack of confidence and more internalised homophobia, transphobia all that, even if it’s minor or kinda subtle.
> 
> Btw yes, it is The Shirt. Any fic I write of substantial length can’t avoid having it in it, that shirt is the best piece of gay pining ever, I love it.
> 
> Also big thanks to those who comment, even if I don’t reply (because I’m more chronically anxious than my own characters and sometimes don’t really know what to say) I do read them, and they’re good motivation and really nice, and I love reading them, so yeah thanks to y’all who’ve done that. And yeah this ended up coming out p early, my country is back in lockdown for a couple days so uni’s delayed and I’ve had the time to do it, though next one might be a bit delayed, girlfriends moving in so that might take up a bit of time depending. And apologies for typos, I edit myself so hard to catch them, so forgive any that appear.
> 
> Anyway enjoy! Constructive criticism welcome as always.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning for the chapter: Misgendering.

She was stuck in her head, not really listening to the conversation taking place at the table in front of her. Her mind was on another subject, or more accurately another person. _Bonnibel._ Her heart jumped ever so slightly as it usually did the past week whenever she thought of her. A sensation she tried unsuccessfully to push down whenever it occurred. She was focused purely on how to deal with this crush she had after all. Her thoughts never meandered to Bonnibel’s pretty smile and beautiful pink hair that seemed like it’d be soft to the touch. She was completely on task and not hopelessly stuck with a crush she couldn’t push down.

“You still available to study later in the week Marceline?” Bonnibel asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“Oh, um, yeah.” Marceline responded, slightly out of it, toying with the hem of her shirt and hoping to god the warm feeling of her face was just the heat of the sun and nothing else.

“Good, make sure to bring your science homework, I’ll check over it, and there’s a maths test coming up so we should probably focus on that together, though you’re usually fine with maths so I’m sure you won’t need much help, but we should still study for it.” She said.

“Sure.” Marceline agreed, trying to seem casual, and trying her best to listen despite the subject on her mind.

This had become a problem since Bonnibel had come over last weekend. She’d hoped it was just a temporary thing, a minor crush that’d fade as quick as it came. Then she could act casual, and the anxiety that was now present due to her nervousness of screwing up in front of her crush would be gone. Unfortunately, the opposite seemed to be the case. It seemed to be getting worse the more she talked with Bonnibel, every time shot her a smile in class, or laughed at one of her lame attempts at a joke she felt her heart jump and that same feeling of adoration get even more intense.

Worse of all was that bright smile Bonnibel had whenever she talked to her. It fitted her so perfectly, the way it outlined her cheekbones, dusted with freckles was completely beautiful to Marceline. It never failed to make her heart flutter whenever she saw it. She could see herself writing a song about it, as terribly cheesy as that was. It could probably convince her to do anything as well. Save for admit her feelings of course.

That same expression was on her face as she turned to ask her something. She still wasn’t sure what that was exactly about, maybe she just was that happy all the time. That seemed to be the best explanation that she could come up with. Though she did smile at others, it was more…restrained than when Bonnibel talked to her. She wasn’t sure what made her so special. It was probably just her imagining things.

“…Do you want to come with us Marceline?” she heard the tail end of a question she hadn’t at all been listening too as she dragged herself from her own thoughts. 

“Oh uh, sure.” She replied. She had no idea what she’d agreed too, but it probably wasn’t that big of a deal. Just hanging out with Bonnibel and her friends. Nothing to worry about.

“We’ll meet you out the front after school then?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you.” She responded, as the bell rang in the background, signalling the end of lunch.

She sighed. She was going to have to figure out how to deal with this crush. Maybe she’d just ride the rest of the year out dealing with it. It wasn’t that long after all. She could deal with that easily enough. She watched as Bonnibel gave her a quick wave and a smile before walking off to her next class. She felt her heart jump again. She held her head in her hands. She totally couldn’t hold out that long.

_I am so fucked._

\----

Lady and Bonnibel were engrossed in a whispered discussion. Well somewhat whispered, Bonnibel occasionally raised her voice slightly whenever Lady said something that got some kind of reaction from her. She seemed to be pressing Bonnibel on something, though she wasn’t exactly sure what, though the occasional glances at her she managed to catch seemed to imply the conversation was about her for some reason. She supposed she could try to eavesdrop, but that seemed a bit too nosy for her. She was content to walk alongside them to wherever they were going, listening to the music playing in her headphones.

Bonnibel eventually broke off from her conversation with Lady, her face tinged a light pink which she presumed was from the heat, and walked alongside closer to Marceline, who took out a headphone in case Bonnibel decided to engage her in conversation, which she did after a brief moment of walking alongside her.

“Lady’s having a small party later tonight, well more a small gathering, it’ll just be us and a couple other friends really hanging out with some alcohol. I was wondering if you want to come?” Bonnibel asked, staring slightly at the footpath as they walked, it seemed like a sign of slight nervousness, but Marceline discarded that idea. Bonnibel didn’t have anything to be nervous about after all.

“Oh sure, what time is it?” Marceline asked, more than happy to be able to spend more time with Bonnibel.

“It starts around 6 or so, I’ll text you the address.” Bonnibel said, as they walked into their destination.

Marceline had been preoccupied with talking to Bonnibel, so she hadn’t noticed where they were exactly going, but as they entered she realised it was the same place from a week ago that’d caused her last bout of skipping school for a long period. She tried and managed to keep herself mostly calm, she could just talk to Bonnibel and distract herself or something, and wouldn’t have to deal with a repeat experience. She’d be perfectly fine, she’d just go sit down or something.

Her thoughts were interrupted however as she realised she’d come to the front of the line as she’d stayed alongside Bonnibel the whole time. She was called up to the counter. Her anxiety prevented her from just doing the easy thing and walking over to the table since she was next in line for the register. She’d been called attention to, and to suddenly walk away would be an anxiety laden risk she found to not be an option. So, she ended up going to register and ordering herself a milkshake, hoping events wouldn’t repeat themselves, despite the presence of the same person at the counter as last time.

“Okay, we’ll bring it over to your table soon sir.” The man at the register said. Well unfortunately luck was against her today. She tried to keep herself as calm as she could despite the anxiety getting worse by the second.

“Oh, I’m uh, it’s ma’am actually” she mumbled out the correction, a thin bit of confidence pushing her on. Maybe it’d just been a mistake. Maybe she could just correct it and move on with her life.

“Hm? Did you say something sir?” The person responded.

“Nevermind.” she grumbled. It wasn’t worth it, and she didn’t have the energy to insist on the correction any further. She walked over to the table Bonnibel was seated at and slumped over the table, breathing a sigh of exhaustion as she did, and trying to keep herself under control despite the growing feeling of anxiety and dysphoria.

“Are you okay Marceline?” Bonnibel asked as she sat down.

She was too damn observant. Or Marceline had been too obvious in her negativity when sitting down. _Fuck._ She grumbled into her arms in response, hoping that she wouldn’t be pressed much further and end up bothering her with what’d happened. Bonnibel seemed to get the message that she wasn’t doing too well. There was a silence that settled over them for a minute before it was broken by Bonnibel.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked tentatively, her eyes full of concern.

She was persistent. Or concerned more likely. She considered telling her, Simon had always tried to get her into trying to open up when something was bothering her. Bonnibel didn’t seem like the worst person to open up too. At least just a little bit, and just this once.

“The guy at the counter misgendered me. I corrected him but he uh, didn’t listen.” She mumbled out into her arms.

Bonnibel heard her well enough despite the mumbling and paused for a moment as her smile faltered and fell. “Is that why you left so quickly last time?” she questioned.

“Yeah.” Marceline answered.

“Oh. Marceline, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have suggested this place again.” Bonnibel apologised.

“It’s cool Bonnibel, you didn’t know, and I wasn’t really paying attention when you mentioned it at lunch, but I’m, I might just go like, wait outside if that’s cool?” Marceline asked. She was managing to keep herself calm, but it would help if she’d be able to get some fresh air for a bit and out of the stifling atmosphere of the store.

“Sure, Marceline. I’ll bring your order out to you when it’s here, and tell Finn, Jake and Lady we’re leaving.” Bonnibel said, understanding smile on her face, and a hint of something else Marceline couldn’t quite figure out.

“Thanks, Bonnibel.” She said, raising herself up, and walking out of the store to the outside.

She put in her headphones, playing some music in an attempt to relax and stay calm. She’d wait for Bonnibel and then go home. Thankfully she’d managed to keep herself mostly calm despite the experience. It seems that at least her own mind was going relatively easy on her today, which she was thankful for.

She’d still probably be able to get herself together enough to go over to that party Bonnibel had mentioned. It was fairly small anyway, and an opportunity to hang out drinking with Bonnibel was an experience she was looking forward too and didn’t want to miss out on. Plus, Bonnibel had admitted to her of her own lack of tolerance for it, and she wanted to make she stayed okay and didn’t drink too much.

She was scrolling through music, deciding what other tracks she was in the mood for, when she looked up from her phone to see if Bonnibel would be coming out any time soon. She was greeted by the site of Bonnibel finishing what seemed to be a slightly heated conversation with the man at the counter, followed by her giving him a two fingered salute, taking their milkshakes and leaving, as Finn and Jake stared inside at the whole ordeal, Lady was doing the same but with an amused smile on her face.

Bonnibel walked out of the store and handed her the milkshake she ordered, her face flush slightly with anger. Marceline took it from her and watched as Bonnibel seemed to do what could only be described as angrily sipping a milkshake. She’d never seen her like this, but Marceline had to admit her uncharacteristic anger did make her look awfully cute. That thought only intensified as she put her palm to her head, having suffered a slight brain-freeze from drinking the milkshake much too fast. Marceline took a quick sip of hers as she watched Bonnibel suffer through a brain-freeze rather adorably, eyebrows scrunched up, a flash of various expressions on her face in a vain attempt to relieve the slight pain, with that red flush of anger fading on her face.

“So, what happened in there?” Marceline questioned as the brain-freeze seemed to recede.

“The guy was acting like a total bast-. Rude. He was acting rude and completely unprofessional. I told him as much and reminded him the store he works for doesn’t tolerate discrimination, and gave him a….suggestion to fix his act unless he wants to get fired.” Bonnibel huffed out.

“And that part where you flipped him off?” Marceline asked, eyebrow raised questioningly.

“That was…for my own satisfaction.” She admitted reluctantly, with a slight smile betraying her genuine enjoyment.

“Bonnibel? Are you telling me you were crass for your own enjoyment? What would the school think about their perfect student using such a rude gesture?” Marceline responded, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Bonnibel simply furrows her eyebrows in annoyance “I can be crass! When the situation calls for it. Maybe not as often as _you._ ” Bonnibel said, poking Marceline slightly, who felt her face heat at the slightly contact. “But I still do it. It can be…fun.” Bonnibel finished.

“Fun huh? I gotta admit, bad girl Bonnie’s kinda badass. I like her.” She complimented, nudging her with her elbow with a slight hint of teasing. It was nice to see other sides of Bonnibel.

“Bonnie huh?” Bonnibel questioned, with a hint of a smug grin on her face. Oh shit, she’d totally said the mental nickname out loud.

“Well, yeah, it’s kinda how I think of you sometimes? Sorry if it weirds you out or anything.” Marceline said, anxiety causing her to make an apology out of fear she might’ve crossed a line of some kind.

“No, it’s nice, you’ve actually said it a few times already. Just thought it would be fun to point it out.” Bonnibel said with a smile, which quickly turned into a smirk as she continued. “I don’t mind. If you don’t mind _Marcy_.” She felt a slight shiver at what she could’ve sworn was an emphasis in the nickname. It must’ve just been friendly teasing, that was all.

“Oh uh, yeah I, that’s cool and all. If you wanna call me that. I wouldn’t mind.” She rambles out, trying to hide the fact that it was very welcome for Bonnibel to call her that and trying to seem casual about it.

“I’ll be sure to do so then.” Bonnibel responded, smile present on her face, with a hint of something Marceline couldn’t quite decipher.

“Anyway, maybe you’ll come up with some clothes to suit ‘bad girl bonnie’ when you dress me up in yours.” Bonnibel reminded her of their earlier joke turned bet.

Marceline groaned in response “I’d hoped you forgot about that. Do we have to? At least you get to wear cool stuff, I’ll just get covered head to toe in pink and be embarrassed.”

“Probably. I’m holding you too it though, I need to see you wearing something pink. Just for my own curiosity if anything.” Bonnibel said, grinning slightly.

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the group, Finn bouncing excitedly about how cool and scary Bonnibel had been, Jake half engaging as he attempted to half-heartedly protect his fries from Lady, relenting eventually but acting dramatic as he did so, and Lady after having successfully stolen some fries, shooting a look at Bonnibel as she walked up to alongside her, who whispered something back that Marceline couldn’t quite hear.

“I forgot how scary Bonnibel can be when she’s angry. Awesome, but flipping scary. Man, remind me never to piss her off.” Finn said.

“You already did dude, remember that time she tried to get us to help dye her hair and it ended up green?” Jake reminded, laughing.

“I didn’t know! How was I supposed to know there were different hair dye colours in her cabinet? I thought they were all pink!” he defended.

“What was that guy bothering you two about anyway?” Jake asked, questioning look shot at Marceline.

“oh, uh..” _Shit._ She searched her mind for an excuse that would sound believable.

“The guy at the counter kept trying to hit on Marceline despite the fact she was uncomfortable.” Bonnibel said, without a hint of hesitation. She made a mental note to thank her for the save later.

“Aw, that’s totes dirtballs Marceline! No one should disrespect a lady and gets away with it!” Finn punctuated his point with a couple of mock boxing jabs, coming across considerable lamer with the paper takeaway bag swinging in his hand as he did so.

“But you should’ve seen her Marceline, she went full on with that guy! I mean she was pretty quiet and all, I couldn’t hear, but her tone was pretty scary. I don’t think I’ve seen her that angry before! Apart from that one time she got a B in Chemistry last term.” Jake exclaimed.

“Well yeah, I just don’t like anyone hurting or harassing peeps I care about.” A slight blush coloured Bonnibel’s cheeks as she said so.

Marceline felt a warmth in her heart. She hadn’t really had anyone defend her like that before. One thing distracted her though from thinking too much on what Bonnibel had done, or why she’d been so defensive.

“You got a B in chemistry?” She asked, genuinely curious at what would cause such a nerd like Bonnibel to fail.

“I…fell asleep halfway through the exam. I’d studied the entire weekend for it and ended up getting no sleep, I rested my head for a second to go over a problem and went out instantly. The teacher last year was a total donkus as well so he wouldn’t let me retake it. Glad he got replaced with Mr. Petrikov.” Bonnibel said, hint of genuine annoyance in her voice, as well as slight anger.

The genuine annoyance that Bonnibel had at the events had Marceline refrain from teasing her about it. Bonnibel took her grades seriously and a B seemed like it genuinely got to her. Though there did seem to be more to it, Marceline wasn’t comfortable asking Bonnibel exactly what. So instead they settled into idle conversation until Marceline made it close to her house and had to split off to go home, informing Bonnibel as such.

“You going to be okay to make it to the party later Marceline?” Bonnibel checked before Marceline left.

“Yeah no, I’ll be there. I promise.”

“Okay Marcy, but if you aren’t I’m leaving the party and coming over to make sure you’re okay and making you watch sci-fi with me.”

“Careful, you’re making skipping it seem more attractive an option.” Marceline warned teasingly.

Bonnibel rolled her eyes slightly in response. “I’ll see you there Marceline.” She said, as she walked away with the rest of the group.

“See ya Marceline.” Finn and Jake exclaimed, Lady giving her a quick wave as they headed away.

\----

Marceline knocked on the door. It had been a fair ways away from her own house, but she’d had plenty of free time to get ready and recover from the slightly unpleasant experience earlier. She’d put on a purple top, which left one shoulder and a black bra strap exposed, some black pants and her trust pair of red boots. Now one might come to the conclusion that she was trying to make herself look good for Bonnibel, which certainly wasn’t the case. She just wanted to look nice. That was all. Just for herself and not for anyone else.

Lady opened the door, and invited Marceline in. She gazed over the room which seemed to be as promised just a small group of people, most of which she knew, and the rest she knew of. Bonnibel, Finn, Jake, Lady, a girl with green, matted hair who'd she usually get her weed from, she recalled her being Holly, a fiery haired short girl she presumed was Pheobe, an ex of Finn’s they occasionally talked about who they were still friends with, and a girl in a gaudy amount of purple whose name she didn't know.

She made her way over to Bonnibel, who was flicking through her phone with a slightly miffed look on her face, which brightened as she saw Marceline. She also seemed to stare at her for a bit longer than was normal. Well in fact a lot longer than was normal. Marceline briefly dared to wonder if…no, Bonnibel might’ve just been surprised. That must’ve been all.

“Why’d you look so annoyed Bonnibel?” She asked as she sat next to her, which seemed to drag Bonnibel from her staring and got her to respond.

“I had plans to study tonight, instead I’m here because Lady practically threatened me into coming along, which is why I invited you so I wouldn’t be so alone. I don’t usually drink at these things and being the sober one amongst tipsy people can be annoying sometimes.” Bonnibel explained.

“You planning on drinking tonight?” Marceline asked, curious.

“Probably a bit. Not too much tough.” She replied.

“I’ll probably drink a bit too. I’m gonna go get one now. Do you want one?” She offered.

Bonnibel nodded in response with a “Sure.” As she did so.

Marceline got up and walked over to the kitchen bench where the bottles of beer were, picking one out for her and Bonnibel, removing the tops with the bottle opener that was set down nearby. She took the bottles over to Bonnibel and handed her one. She took a quick drink. Bonnibel took one a bit later, with a slight look of disgust on her face. Marceline was going to ask about it but Bonnibel interrupted her with a question.

“Do you know the others here?”

“Mostly, I think? Phoebe’s the redhead, right? Finn’s ex?”

Bonnibel nodded in affirmation. “Yeah, it was a bit rough for a while, but it ended up pretty amicably after a time and they enjoy hanging out together as friends now. She has a bit of a temper sometimes, but otherwise she’s cool. She’s even pretty good at freestyle rap.” Bonnibel mentioned.

“A temper? Sounds like someone I know.” Marceline teased.

Bonnibel pushed her lightly in response. “Shut up, I only get a temper over grades. And my friends. And my hair being dyed wrong. And stolen candy.” She muttered out the final part, slightly embarrassed, Marceline just chuckled in response about that amusing factoid.

“Holly, green haired girl, I’ve hung out with a few times. Pretty cool girl.” Marceline continued the conversation, however leaving out the part about getting blazed with her, Finn and Jake that one time and skipping a whole day. She also took another drink, which Bonnibel followed by taking another from her own bottle.

“She’s pretty cool.” Bonnibel agreed. “Jakes pretty sure she and Finn have something going on, their personalities are pretty different, but they actually seem to get along quite well, so he teases Finn about it. Finn won’t say much about it though, only that they hang out, chill and talk about stuff. Though they’re pretty mysterious sometimes, they just go hang out in the forest near town trapsing around it some days. I think she’s got survival or hunting skills or something and teaches him some of it from time to time, he’s always been kinda interested in that stuff. That’s my theory as to what they do anyway.” She theorized to Marceline.

“Purple girl, no idea who she is.” Marceline says, briefly gesturing in her direction. Before taking a drink, which Bonnibel did too.

“The girl over there?” Bonnibel checked, Marcelina nodded in response. “Her names Eleanor, she is an absolute gossip. Don’t tell her anything important. Just nod and listen to whatever she says, stay on her good side.” Bonnibel warned her.

“Gotcha.” Marceline replied, taking another drink, which Bonnibel did as well.

Wait. Was Bonnibel trying to keep up with her? She took another drink experimentally, which Bonnibel did so after Marceline did so. She totally was. She had no idea why, but Bonnibel was trying to keep up. She had no idea if she was trying to impress Marceline or not, but she kept quiet, to see how long Bonnibel would try to keep up, despite her apparent low tolerance.

Lady in the middle of the room announced they were going to do a round of Never Have I Ever, and that anyone was welcome to join or not. Naturally everyone else got in a circle on the floor, and Bonnibel and Marceline decided to join in as well. After Lady had deposited a quite large selection of flavoured shots of various kind in the middle, Jake was chosen as a start, and chose a specifically targeted question.

“Never have I worn an outfit with all the colours on a colour wheel in it.” Jake said.

Lady glared at him, but took a shot nonetheless.

“How’d you manage that?” Marceline asked, curious.

“Bracelets. Lots and lots of bracelets” Jake replied quickly. Lady was up next.

“Never have I ever smoked weed.” Lady said, grinning at Jake, who grumbled in response and took a shot. Marceline cringed internally, hopefully Bonnibel, nerd that she was, wouldn’t judge her too much for having partook in such substances, as she took a shot.

Finn, Holly, Phoebe, Eleanor and Bonnibel also-wait Bonnibel?

“Bonnibel!” Marceline blurted out in confusion upon realising she had taken a shot.

“Hmmm?” Bonnibel hummed, with a slight tilt to her head. Oh, she was already slightly tipsy. She’d seemed fine back on the couch, but it seems the alcohol was getting to her. Bonnibel _was_ a real lightweight.

“You’ve taken like, weed before?”

Bonnibel just looked at her as if she was asking a very stupid question “Uh, yeah?” She responded, unsure at the surprise.

“But you’re like…a massive nerd?” Marceline tried to justify her surprise.

“I’m not _that_ sheltered Marceline. The majority of people our age have done it, 80% or so in fact. And I’m not so strict about…indulging every now and then. As long as you’re careful there’s no harm.” She waved Marceline’s surprise off with a slight shake of her hand.

As it got to Bonnibel’s turn she stared at Marceline with a smug smile “Never have I ever played an instrument.”

Marceline took a drink, as did Phoebe, Holly, Finn and Jake.

Obligated to answer, they went round the circle with their answers. Marceline with Bass, Finn and Holly having played Flute, Jake playing the Viola and Phoebe arguing with rap your voice is totally an instrument to which Bonnibel tried to disagree with due to semantics, but as she was tipsy she didn’t get very far. Marceline hadn’t realised her friend group had some people who played music, maybe she could get an impromptu jam session going, even if it would be a bit chaotic considering the wide range of instruments.

The game continued on for a while with various questions, many of which had Marceline take a shot, but due to her tolerance by the time they got round the entire group she was only slightly tipsy. Bonnibel however seemed to be in a much worse condition, and was swaying slightly from side to side despite the fact she was sitting, which wasn’t a very good sign. Lady however demanded she get one more question in, which caught her own attention.

“Never have I ever had a crush on anyone in this room.” She said, smiling with a hint of some kind of plan, though Marceline wasn’t sure what. Despite Bonnibel’s alcohol addled brain she seemed to wake up slightly at that request, glaring at Lady who just kept smiling at her.

“Do I not count?” Jake questioned.

“I didn’t have a crush on you technically. You asked me out on a date, and I started to like you, but I skipped the crush stage.” She reasoned.

Finn, Jake, Eleanor and Holly all took a drink. So did Marceline, deciding there wouldn’t be harm in doing so. It’s not like Bonnibel would notice, and if she did maybe…No, she had to keep reminding herself it wouldn’t happen. She however saw that Bonnibel also took a shot as well.

Bonnibel had a crush on someone in the room? That seemed odd. Neither Phoebe, Holly, or Eleanor seemed her type, especially considering one of them was an ex of a friend and one was maybe taken. Maybe she’d had one in the past and it was over. That was the most likely explanation.

Bonnibel after her final shot appeared to barely be able to stay up. It seems her attempts to keep up with Marceline earlier had somewhat backfired, especially with all the shots added on top of it. Marceline got up and walked over to Bonnibel as the game ended to check on her.

“Bonnibel are you okay?” She asked.

“Yes Marc, Mar, Marceline.” She said, trying her best to say composed despite her difficulty in getting her name correctly.

Marceline looked around. It looked like the rest of the group would be drinking for a while longer, and leaving Bonnibel to get either more drunk or pass out wasn’t something she was willing to risk. She’d have to take Bonnibel home most likely.

She held her hand out, which Bonnibel took, and after standing up she lost her balance and fell onto Marceline, who managed to catch her and keep her upright. She was slightly embarrassed at having Bonnibel so close, but she was focused enough on getting her home that she kept the thought at the back of her mind. She helped Bonnibel towards the door and shot a look at Lady who’d been looking at them. She nodded her head, seeming to understand. Apparently Bonnibel’s lightweight status was well known enough. She exited the house onto the front porch.

“I’ll take you home.” She explained to Bonnibel, remembering that apparently her house was decently close.

“Nooooooo, my aunt and uncle, I can’t let them see me drunk! It’s against the rules! And I said I’d be staying the night at Lady’s anyway.” Bonnibel slurred out, still leaning against Marceline. Well shit that wasn’t an option. She’d have to let Bonnibel stay at hers then.

“Do you want to stay at my house then Bonnibel?” She offered.

Bonnibel just drunkenly nodded in response, giving her a “Yes.” Along with it. So she dialled a number into her phone to the person who she knew would still be up at this time and be willing to pick her up.

“Marceline! How are you?” Simon’s chipper voice said as he answered the phone, despite the late hour.

“I’m good Simon. Hey could you come pick us up? Bonnibel and me were at a party and she had wayyy too much-”

“No Marcy, don’t tell Mr. Petrikov! I need to make sure I make a good impression.” She complained.

“Simon won’t care Bonnibel.” She reassured, not knowing why Bonnibel was so worried about making a good impression, before focusing back on talking to Simon “Anyway, she’s not in a condition to walk the distance back to my place, and the place I’m at is busy still, so could you pick us up and drop us off at my house?” She asked.

“Sure Marceline, I’ll be there soon, what’s the address?”

After she gave the details, Simon hung up and presumably was headed on his way. At least maybe Bonnibel would sober up a bit before they made it to Marceline’s house. She sat Bonnibel down on a seat on the porch to give her some time to rest before Simon got there.

\----

Simon arrived fairly quickly after the call, never one to be too late especially if Marceline called. She got Bonnibel to stand up, who seemed a bit more stable than before but still seemed to need to lean on Marceline as that was what she did. They made their way over to the car, as Marceline helped Bonnibel into the back seat before getting in after her.

“You okay Marceline?” Simon asked, checking on her as was habit.

“Yeah, I’m good, I didn’t drink that much, unlike Bonnibel here.” She mentioned.

She put on her seatbelt, but as she did she felt something fall into her lap. She looked down to see a pink head of hair on it. Bonnibel had apparently decided to rest her head on Marceline’s lap. She felt a blush coming onto her face. She sat there, unsure of what to do. She was going to ask Bonnibel what she was doing, before she heard her snoring light. Oh. She'd fallen asleep. She decided to leave her be instead and let her get a small rest.

She looked over and saw Simon smiling in the rear view mirror, looking over at them. She could tell what he was thinking. She wished that was the case. This was more just a case of Bonnibel being extremely drunk.

“So, how have you and Bonnibel been?” Simon asked after a bit of silence, keeping his voice low so as to not awaken Bonnibel.

“We’ve been good. She’s been helping me study for some stuff I’ve been behind on, so I think stuff might be a bit easier this year. She makes things way easier to learn. And she um, I got misgendered at a store and she got angry and chewed the guy out on my behalf so that was…really nice. She’s pretty cool to hang out with and stuff.” She finished, with a slight blush on her cheeks she hoped wasn’t visible.

“You like her don’t you?” Simon asked. Thought it wasn’t much of a question, more of an assured statement.

Marceline started to retort but stopped herself. Simon always knew how to pick up on things with her, so there wasn’t much point in denying or hiding it. Instead, she just nodded her head.

“That’s good. You know Marceline, I think she might like you too.” Simon commented.

“What makes you say that?” Marceline said, unsure of what could give him that idea.

“Just an observation Marceline, nothing more.” He said, as he stopped just outside her house.

She nudged Bonnibel, who was still asleep in her lap. The only response she got was a slight groan. “Bonnibel, we’re here, lets go.” Marceline said, hoping she’d comply.

“You’re comfy though Marcy, I don’t wanna.” She whined, further pushing her head further onto Marceline’s thigh which she apparently found a very comfy pillow. She ignored the blush coming onto her face to focus on getting Bonnibel up.

“I’m sure the bed will be much comfier.” Marceline said, lifting Bonnibel up to an upright position so she could get out. She got out, and after noticing Bonnibel was still leaning up against the seat, opened the door on her side and helped her out.

“Thanks, Simon.” She said.

“Anytime Marceline.” He replied. She then shut the door of the car and made her way to her house.

Bonnibel was mostly able to walk by herself, but Marceline kept herself near as she did occasionally stumble over herself. They made their way to Marceline’s room, and Bonnibel fell onto Marceline’s bed the moment she was near. It was clear she was still pretty exhausted. She needed to drink some water before sleeping though. She turned to leave but Bonnibel grabbed her hand as she did.

“Where are you going Marceline?” She asked, seeming slightly sad.

“I need to go get you some water Bonnibel, so you don’t have a massive hangover or be too dehydrated.” She explained. Bonnibel still seemed unconvinced and kept hold of Marceline’s hand.

“I don’t wanna be alone though.” Bonnibel complained.

“It won’t be for long Bonnibel, I’ll let you hold Hambo.” She said, desperate for Bonnibel to comply.

Was that offer even a good thing? Judging by the tipsy smile on Bonnibel’s face it apparently was. That was…interesting. Bonnibel was probably just weird when she was drunk. Just uncharacteristically weird. Especially towards her. That was all. Marceline fetched Hambo from the side of the bed where he was lying and handed it to Bonnibel, who promptly hugged him close and buried her face in him.

“Don’t go to sleep yet, you still need to drink some water.” Marceline reminded. Bonnibel simply replied with some muffled sound as she refused to remove her face from Hambo to reply with words. She went to the kitchen and got a couple glasses, filling up one and drinking it to make sure she was hydrated just in case, and filling the other up and bringing it to Bonnibel.

As she set it on the side table, Bonnibel, who she hadn’t noticed had apparently been crying when she entered the room, wrapped her arms around Marceline and sobbed into her shirt. She internally panicked. Hangovers, and drunken rambling she was used too, Keila did that all the time. Keila never drunk cried on her however, she wasn’t the type. Marceline had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

“What’s wrong Bonnibel?” She asked, hopelessly out of her depth.

“It’s, It’s the girl I like.” She said, sniffling slightly as she finished.

“What’s wrong with her?” Marceline asked. Though she wasn’t exactly thrilled with Bonnibel’s crush considering her own feelings, she wasn’t going to let that get in the way of making sure she was okay.

“She’s so closed off, I can tell sometimes she’s hurting, but she won’t talk to me about it. I mean, I have to respect her distance otherwise I might mess it up. She’s been opening up a bit more but then I keep wanting to try help more. But I’ve been overbearing in the past and it’s ended badly. But it hurts so much to not be able to help, it makes me feel so…powerless. What if she doesn’t trust me or doesn’t even like me? Just puts up with me or something?” Bonnibel rambled out, her voice slightly muffled as she had her face buried in Marceline’s shirt. Marceline wasn’t exactly sure how to handle this. Bonnibel usually didn’t show her emotions too freely, but it seem alcohol loosened the restraint on that aspect somewhat.

“I’m sure she likes you Bonnibel. She hangs out with you after all doesn’t she?” Marceline offered, a guess, but one she felt comfortable making considering what she’d heard. She’d hope it comforts her.

“Yeah, she does. She hangs out a lot actually, it’s really nice whenever I see her.” Bonnibel says, pulling away from Marceline, still sniffling slightly.

“You okay Bonnibel?” She asks, checking on her.

“Yeah I, I just got a bit emotional sorry. I’ll be okay. Thanks Marceline.” She said, having composed herself and her drunkenness having lessened more, though still very much present.

“It’s fine Bonnibel, you don’t need to apologise. I don’t mind you talking about stuff like that.” Marceline reassured, hoping Bonnibel would be comfortable to open up to her more.

She couldn’t imagine who Bonnibel could be talking about however. She didn’t know anyone who she hung out with who’d fit the criteria. Then again Bonnibel was always slightly closed off on some things. Maybe she just had a mystery friend Marceline didn’t know.

She put the matter aside, she needed to make sure Bonnibel stayed hydrated. She grabbed the water from the side table. “Bonnibel, you need to drink some water before you sleep.” She reminded. Bonnibel just stared at her in response. Marceline rolled her eyes.

“Drink it Bonnibel. All of it, it’ll help you feel better in the morning.” She said, holding the glass of water out to Bonnibel with the most intimidating look she could.

Bonnibel pouted slightly, which Marceline found adorable, but took the glass from her, and with a muttered “Fine.” drunk all the water. Marceline took the glass back, refilled it and returned with it, placing it on the side table, and grabbing Hambo from the bed where he lay, to have with her as she slept.

“You should drink more, but if you don’t, this is for the morning, or whenever you wake up, you’ll probably need it. Anyway, I’ll be sleeping on the couch if you need me.” However, once again she had her hand held as she went to walk away.

“It’s too coooold Marcy.” Bonnibel complained, dragging Marceline closer.

“I’ll be fine Bonnibel, there’s spare blankets in a cupboard. Or if you need more I can get you some.” Bonnibel just ignored her explanation and dragged Marceline enough that she fell over onto the bed.

“Also, you’ve got Hambo to cuddle and I have nothing, so I need you. Especially since it’s cold” Bonnibel nodded her head, convinced by her very sound logic and wrapped her arms around Marceline’s waist, keeping her trapped with Bonnibel snuggling her in bed.

“Bonnie I-“

“Shhhhh, sleep now Marcy.” Bonnibel quieted her, lazily trying to put a finger to Marceline’s lips for emphasis, but just ended up poking her cheek.

“Fine Bonnibel.” She relented to Bonnibel’s strange request. She must’ve just been one of those affectionate types when tipsy, or she was just extremely out of it due to exhaustion. One of those, she certainly wasn’t cuddling her out of any affection. Definitely not. And Marceline certainly wasn’t comfortable where she was either. She was just giving up because she was tired.

Nonetheless though, despite her own convinced attitude that this was just a happenstance of Bonnibel being tipsy, Marceline felt herself falling into the peace of sleep very easily, feeling extremely comfortable and unusually safe in Bonnibel’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah misgendering again but Bonnibel comes and saves the day and makes it less depressing and has things turn out alright. Bonnibel gets drunk and drops more hints, Marcy’s still oblivious.
> 
> Also, I have basically no friends to tell this too so rambling about it here, got a Princess Bubblegum plush, it’s great, that is all. Good highlight from a stressful and bad week. 
> 
> Uni’s started back up, so progress might be a bit slower. That’s why this one’s a few days late, first week of uni, queer club stuff, along with helping gf move kept me busy from this for a bit. Apologies for typos I might have missed to to stress and tiredness.
> 
> So if less updates uni’s why it’s happening, That or I’ll just look at my uni work and go “hm should probably do that” and go and write more fanfic because I’m a procrastinating dumbass like that. Thanks ya'll for reading and enjoy!


	6. Chapter 6

Marceline woke feeling more well rested than in recent memory. She was still in a half-awake state, so she wasn’t sure why, but she was extremely comfortable in her current position, as well as very warm. She snuggled closer towards the source of toasty warmth and comfiness in her bed that was behind her. Whatever it was it seemed to move a bit slightly, and slightly tighten the grip it had around her waist for a brief second before loosening it again. It smelt nice too, scents of jasmine with hints of cinnamon which were usually unfamiliar in her room seemed to be present around her.

She felt herself waking up a bit more, that early morning haze that permeated as it did whenever someone woke clearing up slightly. She yawned slightly, as her mind slowly went through the process of reconstructing last night’s events. She finally came to remembering how exactly she’d gotten into bed, and what the warm presence behind her actually was. It was Bonnibel.

There was a slight mix of emotions. On one hand, being cuddled by your crush wasn’t exactly a bad turn of events for her. It was something Marceline was considering relaxing into and going back to sleep. On the other, she was extremely embarrassed by the occurrence, trying to keep the blush from rising to her face despite the fact no one was awake to see, and staying calm so she didn’t wake Bonnibel. There was also the issue that Bonnibel had likely only cuddled her out of drunken affection and might be weirded out waking in Marceline’s bed. Though she could assume…Nope, she’d die from embarrassment if Bonnibel assumed that. She’d just hope Bonnibel wouldn’t make that assumption _at all._

She decided to pry herself from Bonnibel’s grasp and crawl out of bed, so at the least Marceline would be able to get some time to calm herself down before Bonnibel woke up. It’d probably also be slightly less weird for Bonnibel to wake up without Marceline next to her, as she’d probably not remember how it happened. She’d also probably have a mean hangover as well due to her substantial drinking, so she could cook something up for her before she woke up. So, she gently lifted Bonnibel’s hand that was draped over her away, and as quietly and gently as she could got herself out of bed.

Bonnibel thankfully was a heavy enough sleeper that Marceline prying herself from her grip didn’t seem to wake her. Though her dreaming mind still seemed to sense an absence and started reaching out trying to find the body that she’d had her hands around but that was now gone, and a slightly unhappy look was settling on her face while still deep in sleep. It looked adorable, but she considered maybe Bonnibel was one of those people who usually preferred to cuddle something while they slept. So, she placed Hambo near her arms, which Bonnibel latched onto and held close, her face relaxing somewhat and snuggling closer into it. She felt her heart jump slightly, before trying her best to push it down, and distract herself with the task of putting together breakfast.

She looked through the ingredients she had lying around the kitchen still, she didn’t have much, but there was enough for her to able to make pancakes, which she figured Bonnibel would like considering her propensity for sweetness. She mixed the batter together and, and after finishing doing so she ladled some into the pan for the first pancake. While it cooked, she decided to make some coffee while it cooked to wake herself up a bit. As she did so, she saw Bonnibel walk into the kitchen, evidently having woken up but also looking miserable and very unhappy with the hangover she likely had.

“Panadol’s in the bathroom cabinet, on the left side.” Marceline said, directing her to the painkillers, assuming that was what she was after. Bonnibel walked out of the room after she had so, mumbling a thanks as she did. Flipping the first pancake over, she continued the process of cooking while her coffee brewed.

Bonnibel eventually returned, looking slightly better, as the coffee finished brewing and Marceline proceeded to pour herself some.

“Can you pour me a cup?” Bonnibel asked.

“You know caffeine doesn’t help hangovers right Bonnibel? It usually makes them worse.” Marceline informed.

Bonnibel just sent her an annoyed look, as if Marceline had just personally insulted her. Ah, so Bonnibel was the kind of person who functioned on caffeine. That explained how she managed so much study and the overnight study marathons Bonnibel partook in every so often. She rolled her eyes, acquiescing to Bonnibel’s request as she did however and poured her a cup. She plated up the first pancake, and ladled some more batter in the pan, then took Bonnibel’s coffee over to her.

As she set it down, Bonnibel grabbed it like a lifeline and took a big drink. As she did though her eyes widened, and after she swallowed she scrunched up her nose and eyebrows in disgust. It was a worse grimace than when she’d been drinking alcohol the night before. She should’ve guessed Bonnibel wouldn’t be the kind to drink black coffee, considering her sweet tooth.

“You drink this stuff?” Bonnibel commented.

“It’s not that strong, Bonnibel.” Marceline took a sip on her own coffee, as if to prove her own point.

“Sugar’s on the second shelf in the kitchen cupboard, milks in the fridge if you want it.” She informed.

Marceline went back to flip the second pancake over and watched from the corner of her eyes as Bonnibel poured some milk into her coffee. Then put in a teaspoon of sugar. Then two. Then three. She took a sip. Then put in a fourth teaspoon of sugar, and happy with what was now more sugar with a side of coffee, she returned to the kitchen table.

She wondered how Bonnibel managed to keep her teeth healthy despite the enormous amounts of sugar and sweets she seemed to consume. Though she did seem like the kind of person to have the energy and willingness to brush her teeth as often as people were supposed to. That probably countered her sugar intake somewhat. She resumed her job of finishing the pancakes.

After she had cooked the rest of the batter and got a stack of 6 pancakes, she put half on one plate, half on another, and set them down at the table, along with a bottle of maple syrup. Bonnibel grabbed the syrup Bonnibel the near instant it was set down and poured herself some syrup. And then some more. And more. And even more until her pancakes were near overflowing with syrup.

“Drown your pancakes enough?” Marceline commented.

“I didn’t take that much” Bonnibel said with slight embarrassment.

“Bonnibel, that bottle was half full when I brung it out, now it’s a third full at best.” She pointed out.

“I like syrup okay.” Bonnibel said, her cheeks slightly pink, as she then shoved a forkful of syrupy pancake in her mouth, then becoming distracted by enjoying her pancakes.

“You, uh, like them?” Marceline asked, slightly unsure if she’d messed them up, anxiety forcing her to check if everything was okay.

“Yeah, they’re good Marceline!” Bonnibel said, smile on her face, evidently happy with them.

They continued eating their pancakes in relative silence, and as they finished Bonnibel asked Marceline a question.

“By the way Marceline did I uh, do anything weird last night? It’s all a bit hazy so I don’t really remember it that well.” Bonnibel said, seeming slightly nervous for some reason.

“No, nothing too bad. You cried on me for a bit about your crush, you didn’t tell me who she was though, so you don’t have to worry about that. Then you demanded that you could cuddle me because you were cold and needed something to cuddle.” She explained, blushing slightly in memory of the last part.

“Oh, okay. Thanks for telling me.” Bonnibel seemed to pause for a second as she often did, thinking something over, before continuing. “Was the cuddling bad?” She asked.

“Oh no, it, it was fine. I didn’t mind it. At all. It was nice actually I guess.” She rambled out nervously. She didn’t want to exactly deny that she very much enjoyed it, but she didn’t want to come off as creepy or forward either, despite both being more of a fear based of anxiety than any genuine possibility.

Bonnibel, however, seemed to get the message that she enjoyed it despite her nervous statement. “Well, maybe we can do it again sometime.” She commented with a slight smile.

Marceline just stared at her for a bit, dumfounded. Bonnibel wanted to cuddle her again. She’d thought last night had just been a fluke of drunken affection, but it seemed there was other reasons as to why Bonnibel wanted to cuddle her. Maybe she was just the affectionate type. Or maybe some other reason, though Marceline couldn’t figure out what that could be.

She then realised she’d been staring at Bonnibel for a while, who was sending a quizzical look at her. _Shit. Say something you idiot. So she doesn’t think you’re weirded out or something._

“Yeah!” She says, a bit too loudly and enthusiastically. She instantly cringed internally, before moving on and hoping Bonnibel just ignored her exclamation. “I mean yeah, that’d be cool and stuff.” She says lamely, trying to save herself some embarrassment.

Bonnibel just giggled at her display, and Marceline felt herself turning slightly red with embarrassment. The smile it’d put on Bonnibel’s face had been worth it though.

“Anyway.” Bonnibel said, with a slight giggle afterwards, still evidently affected. “Do you want to come over to my house later? My Aunt and Uncle will be out for the night, so we can hang out for a bit. Maybe do some study, watch a movie, I can finally dress you up in pink?” Bonnibel asked, a suppressed smile becoming present on her face as she finished her sentence.

Marceline rolled her eyes as Bonnibel mentioned their deal again. “Do I _really_ have too?” sheasked, still not pleased with the situation.

Bonnibel just giggled slightly at her annoyance. “Yes, you do Marceline. You can bring around some of whatever clothes you want to get me dressed up in.”

She sighed. She may as well get this over with at the least. “Fine, I’ll come over later. I’m only wearing it for a short while, not the whole time.” Marceline informed.

Bonnibel puffed her cheeks slightly in annoyance. “You’re no fun.” She muttered.

Marceline just ignored her. She wouldn’t be wearing it for long no matter what. Well unless Bonnibel asked her nicely, then her heart would likely betray her into going along with her request.

Bonnibel took a look at the time and realised she should get going soon. She gave a quick goodbye, thanking Marceline for taking care of her and left. Now all Marceline had to do is think of something to get Bonnibel to dress up in. She smiled slightly. She had a few ideas.

\----

Laughter crackled out over the phone’s speaker. It had been doing so, with increasing volume as she’d listed everything that had happened between her and Bonnibel in the past month during her and Keila’s semi regular catchup.

 _“Marcy, she’s like, totally into you. God, I thought the stereotypes about lesbians being useless were just a joke but you’re really dense aren’t you.”_ Keila accused lightly. 

“No I’m not! She could just be really friendly and like this with everyone!” She defended. It wasn’t that obvious was it?

_“You gave her a shirt and it’s been like, a couple weeks and she still hasn’t returned it.”_

“Well maybe she just..forgot to give it back.” Marceline responded.

 _“Maybe, but maybe she kept it, because she likes you!”_ Keila teased.

“Just because she hasn’t given it back doesn’t mean she likes me, she might just…like that shirt, it’s a good shirt.” She tried to reason. It didn’t make much sense, considering it was the polar opposite of Bonnibel’s usual style in every sense.

 _“I’m just saying Marcy, when you go around to her house, I bet you more than anything she’d still have it around, she might even wear it to show you she still has it and likes it.”_ Despite being on a voice call, she could practically hear Keila’s eyebrows waggling suggestively as she finished that last part.

“ _At the least try be proactive?”_ She asked, practically begging. “ _Do some reconnaissance, ask her what kind of girls she’s into, if she’s into you at all, she’ll probably drop some details that apply to you, it doesn’t tell you for sure, but it’ll give you a hint at least.”_

“But Keila, what about y’know, the whole trans thing, like, some lesbians don’t really date trans girls.” She asked, anxiety gnawing at her mind. Bonnibel had proven herself trustworthy so far but…the fear of rejection was always there, nonetheless.

“ _Marcy, that girl, in public, gave someone a verbal chewing out for deliberately misgendering you, she said she wasn’t going to out you and offered you help if you needed it just out of the blue because you talked to her. She literally offered to cuddle you again, and yes, I know some girls do that platonically, but I think that’s definitely not the case here. I’d bet you she doesn’t care that you’re trans. If you are unsure though, bring up the topic casually or something, she’ll probably tell you if she’d date a trans-woman if you asked._ ” A slight snicker came over the phone. “ _Or just state it if she’s interested in you._ ”

“You’re terrible you know that?” she huffed out in response, annoyed at Keila’s teasing.

“ _Oh be quiet you. You know I’m right, at least on some of it. I’ve got better experience with relationships anyway Marcy._ ” Keila pointed out.

She groaned in agony at remembering her previous relationship “Don’t remind me of Ash, that was a really dumb mistake.”

 _“Alright, maybe I’ll let you off for now. But you need to at least try to gauge this girls interest. Promise you’ll try? I know after everything that happened you have a hard time believing someone might be into you, but this girl does sound like she’s at least interested. And I haven’t heard you be this into anyone in like, ever, so please at least try. Plus, she sounds like a good sort, really cares about you, and she’s managing to drag your butt to class and study more so she’s a good influence.”_ Keila said.

“Fine, promise.” She muttered reluctantly.

_“Right, anyway, you sure you don’t want me to talk about how much of a mistake Ash was? Because I’ve got a list here and-”_

“Screw you Keila.” She interrupted.

Keila’s laughter comes through the speakers again. “ _Love you too Marcy. Stay safe though yeah?”_

“I will, you too.” She says, hanging up the call.

Marceline stared up at the ceiling thinking over everything Keila had told her. She could probably steer the conversation towards what kinda girls Bonnibel liked easily enough, but she still wasn’t sure about her other advice. It seemed near impossible that Bonnibel, pretty, smart, caring, would be interested in some random school slacker like her who could at best play a few songs decently, without much else too her. Especially with the whole trans thing which made someone liking her seem all the more impossible. And then there was everything that could go wrong. She took a deep breath. Bonnibel wasn’t like that. She’d probably take Keila’s advice if she got the confidence to ask Bonnibel questions through her own anxiety. Despite all the unlikely ways it could end in disaster that she for some reason believed, she’d nonetheless at least make an attempt. Probably. Maybe.

\----

She stood in front of to the house Bonnibel had given her the address for, a slightly old two-story affair, with paint chipped in places and faded in others, a red door, seemingly once having been a bit more ornate but having faded well over time as well, which she knocked on. It only took a few short second before it opened, Bonnibel having come to it rather quickly, and greeting her with a smile and motioning her in, dressed simply in jeans and the band shirt she’d lent her. Marceline took note of the fact Bonnibel still wore the shirt. Maybe Keila did have a point.

“So, you have anything interesting for me to dress up in Marcy?” Bonnibel asked as she led her up towards her room.

“Yeah, I mean, it might be to cool for you, but you may be able make it work.” Marceline replied teasingly.

“I’m perfectly ‘cool’ enough for your clothes Marceline. I’m at least sure with what I’ll dress you up in you’ll look adorable.” Bonnibel replied, a slight hint of excitement in her voice. Marceline just tried to prepare herself for the embarrassment of whatever Bonnibel had in store for her, as they got to her room and went in.

Bonnibel’s room was almost exactly as expected. Pink walls, pink bedspread, pink pillows, various objects around the room decorated with that colour. Though it wasn’t everywhere thankfully. A pillow on her bed the shape and colour of a peppermint, a large old dark brown wooden bookcase, a poster of the periodic table on the wall, (which didn’t surprise her in the least) were a few objects that went against the main colour scheme. Most prevalent however was the fact her room was absolutely piled with books. She had a bookcase filled to the brim with reading material, mostly science based, though one shelf had been reserved for mostly baking books, and another for various kinds of political literature. 

Around the room was also the occasional stack of whatever subject Bonnibel had decided to study for her own strange enjoyment piled up neatly along the walls or tucked into various corners of the room. Along with some more books stacked on her desk, surprisingly not pink and just a simple wooden brown, with a book open on it which she’d clearly been reading, on whatever subject she had been focusing on at the time. She’d always be surprised at the extent Bonnibel seemed to love learning. Most people seemed to restrict themselves to areas but Bonnibel’s desire to learn seemed near infinite, though seemingly focused on the scientific mostly. Understandable though she guessed with exams coming Bonnibel at least had reason to study. Despite probably not needing too considering her nerdiness.

As she stepped in the bedroom, Bonnibel went and grabbed a pile of clothes she’d left on her bed, walking over to Marceline.

“These are what you’ll be wearing. Do you have the clothes for me?”

“Yeah, here. And uh, you can just wear the shirt you have on if you prefer, the one in there might be a bit much.” Marceline informed as she gave her the small bag of clothes for her and taking the clothes that Bonnibel was holding.

“I’ll go change in another room; you can change here.” She said, walking out to go change into what Marceline had given.

She looked through the pile of clothes Bonnibel had given her. They were unsurprisingly very pink and femme, which was to be expected considering it was Bonnibel. She took off her clothes and put them on one by one. A pink skater skirt of decent length that came down to about mid-thigh, a simple pink plain pink t-shirt to go along with it, along with a pair of thigh-highs, striped in various shades of pink, some lighter and more pastel, and others on the darker side of pink.

She looked at herself in the mirror in Bonnibel’s room. Apart from her long black hair, she looked completely pink and femme. It was totally _not_ her style. It was a mortifying and embarrassing experience, likely only to get worse whenever Bonnibel entered and saw her. At least she’d get to see what she’d chosen out for Bonnibel, even though it had been fairly simple.

There was a light knock at the door. Bonnibel was presumably checking before walking in. “Come in!” she said.

Bonnibel walked into the room wearing what Marceline had given her, and she wore it _well._ Much better than she would’ve ever expected. She had on blue jean shorts, which were frayed at the ends with slight rips on them, some black knee-high stockings, a tight red crop top with a skull on it, and a black leather jacket, with studs along the arms and shoulders.

“I’ve never seen you wear this jacket before Marceline.” Bonnibel commented as she looked over Marceline with a slight smile ghosting the corner of her lips.

“I used to wear it a lot, I was into punkish stuff for quite a bit earlier on. I kinda mellowed out on it as a whole though and wear it rarely now.” She explained, trying to keep herself from staring for too long at how good Bonnibel looked.

“So, how’re you finding the outfit?” Bonnibel asked with a teasing smile, evidently enjoying Marceline’s embarrassment.

Marceline fiddled with the hem of her shirt slightly, trying to avoid the blush creeping onto her face from her embarrassment over the current attire. “It’s fine, I guess. Embarrassing though. And totally not my thing, I’ve never even worn thigh-highs before.”

“You’ve never worn thigh-highs?” Bonnibel asks surprised.

“Yeah?” Marceline answered, confused as to why that would be a surprise.

“I thought that was like…Nevermind.” Bonnibel tried to move on, a slight blush gracing her cheeks as she did.

“No, continue on Bonnibel, what were you going to say?” Marceline asked, curious as to what she was going to say.

“I was just a bit surprised. I thought like…most trans-girls had worn thigh highs. That’s the impression I got from what I read online.” She mumbled with her head down, unusually nervous and embarrassed.

“From what you read online?” She pressed.

“Well, I mean. I did some research.” Bonnibel said, giving little information away.

“Research?” Marceline questioned, curious as to what the details of it were.

“I mean when we...well when we started being friends, I just didn’t want to donk anything up. I had some cursory knowledge about what not to do, but I did some research, so I didn’t make you uncomfortable or anything, or say anything wrong. Ended up reading about other general stuff in the process as well.” Bonnibel explained.

“Did you seriously nerd out on research so you wouldn’t make me uncomfortable on accident?” Marceline asked, amused slightly, along with finding it heart-warming Bonnibel cared enough to do research so as to not make her uncomfortable.

“Yeah.” Bonnibel huffed out.

“That’s really sweet Bonnie.” Marceline replied.

The nervousness that seemed to be present in Bonnibel seemed to relax slightly, though the blush on her face intensified slightly. “Thanks Marceline.” She said.

“But anyway, I personally think that it does suit you Marcy, maybe it’s not entirely your thing, but you do look adorable in it.” Bonnibel compliments.

“Well, you look pretty-” _Hot._ “-good as well Bonnibel. The pink hair kinda give you a nice alt look.” Marceline returns the compliment, trying to keep it simple so as to now give away how much she enjoys Bonnibel’s current look.

“You really think so? Glad you’re enjoying it Marcy.” Bonnibel teases with a smirk.

Marceline feels her face heat up at the teasing, unsure if Bonnibel managed to figure her out. “Well yeah I mean, you just look nice, not like really hot” _Why had she said that word._ “I mean you do look hot I just-fuck, I mean-” Marceline felt herself pause as she noticed Bonnibel was much closer to her now. She must’ve moved closer during her nervous rambling and she’d been too distracted to notice. She had that same smirk on her face, confident, but with a hint of something else.

Marceline felt her heart beating faster as Bonnibel stared at her, not saying a word. The feeling only intensified as Bonnibel reached her hand up, taking a lock of Marceline’s hair that lay on the side of her face between her fingers and playing with it slightly, the backs of her fingers occasionally tracing slightly along her face. “You know Marcy, you don’t have to be embarrassed about liking how I look. Even if you find me…hot, I’m flattered more than anything, I’m not going to find it strange or weird.” Bonnibel paused for a moment, looking over Marceline slowly, who found she didn’t mind the staring at all. “Plus, I do find you _really_ cute as well.” She finished.

Marceline tried to say something in response, but the words got stuck in the back of her throat, too nervous to be spoken. She wondered if Bonnibel was flirting with her. She was right? Bonnibel was still staring at her, she seemed to be thinking something over. Whatever it was though she decided against it and withdrew before Marceline could make a response.

“Anyway, you can get changed now, since the deal’s been done.” Bonnibel stated.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sure.” Marceline mumbles out as Bonnibel walks out to get changed.

Marceline got changed back into her normal clothes, which were much more comfortable and considerably less pink. Bonnibel knocked on the door again, and Marceline let her know its okay to come in. After returning the bags of clothes to Marceline she sits on the bed.

“Do you want to watch a movie Marceline?” She asks.

“No study Bonnibel?” she teases.

“When my Aunt and Uncle are out, I like to use the free time I have. Though this might be just as annoying to understand as study.” She says with a hint of a smile.

“Really? What’s it called?” Marceline asks curiously.

“Primer, it’s a really good sci-fi.” She responds, while she grabs a plain black laptop, disconnecting it from a charger.

“I only have it on my laptop so, we might have to cuddle close to watch it if that’s fine?” Bonnibel checks, moving onto the bed for comfort.

“Sure, that’s fine” Marceline responds, trying not to sound too excited to have another opportunity to cuddle Bonnibel, moving onto the bed and settling next to her. Bonnibel plays the movie, placing the laptop onto Marceline’s lap, and rests her head on Marceline’s shoulder and cuddles up to her.

\----

“So like, if you decide to do something and have the power of time travel, but that experience leads to time travel that like, comes back into the past, that event would’ve already happened the moment you fully committed yourself to it. Like if you had time travel and decided to time travel back 10 minutes in 10 minutes to meet yourself. You wouldn’t experience that. You would just appear in front of yourself. Time’s not linear at all so if the event is meant to occur, it will simply occur, and you won’t experience a permutation where no one appeared in front of you, then you travelled back. At least for single timeline time travel, multiverse messes it up but Primer doesn’t do that cop-out excuse.

“So, when they decide to try mess with a paradox and this is the good part, something happens, we never know what happens, but something happens to make Granger come back. We never learn, but clearly something went very wrong, so that’s why he suddenly appears.” Bonnibel explained again to Marceline.

“I still don’t get it.” Marceline says, completely confused.

Bonnibel rolls her eyes. “I’ll explain it all if we watch it again during the film. That might help. It does take a few watches to get everything going on.”

“Can we talk about something else? My brain’s starting to hurt more than study.” She asks.

“Sure, what else do you want to talk about?” Bonnibel acquiesces to her request.

Marceline shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant in the subject she was about to bring up. “What kind of girls are you into?”

“Oh, I don’t know, I mean I _am_ pretty gay so I like most girls.” She shrugs a bit as she says, then casually continues on “I do have a bit of a thing for alt girls though, like, piercings, dyed hair, tattoos that sorta stuff? It’s…pretty attractive.” She blushes lightly as she finishes, trying to keep a casual attitude as she does.

Marceline’s heart jumps slightly. At least two of those applied to her, which gave her a bigger chance then she thought she would’ve had. Bonnibel could’ve also been dropping a hint, but Marceline couldn’t help but doubt the possibility of that happening.

“What about you though? Anything your particularly into?” Bonnibel asks.

“Oh uh, I don’t know really. I guess, I mean I do think dyed hair’s pretty cute and all. Especially unnatural colours. Like yknow, blue, green or pink.” Marceline says.

Bonnibel just lets out a teasing smile as she twirls some of her hair around her finger. “Pink huh?”

Marceline quickly realises how that might’ve sounded. Not that taking _that_ sort of meaning was wrong, but it hadn’t been deliberate. Might as well pretend it had been though. She wouldn’t get the opportunity to act as if she actually knew what she was doing when it came to flirting with girls very often after all considering her lack of skills.

“Yeah, pink’s a nice colour, it’s real pretty.” She complimented, trying her best to sound confident.

“Glad you like it.” Bonnibel says with a smile.

“By the way, at the party you drunk at the never have I ever about having a crush. You mentioned to me before that you didn’t have one, so I was curious if you got one recently?” Bonnibel asks casually.

“Oh um, yeah I do. I uh, didn’t exactly expect it. I usually try avoid getting crushes and all. A lot of, well cis people at least, won’t date you if you’re trans yknow? So not much point in, setting myself up for heartbreak.” She explains.

“Mmm, yeah I can understand that. The avoiding getting crushes that is, I mean, I wouldn’t care if some girl I liked turned out to be trans.” Bonnibel mentioned.

 _Please date me please date me please date me._ Well, Bonnibel wouldn’t mind dating a trans person. That was confirmation that Marceline actually had a chance. That was better than nothing.

“Oh, that’s cool.” Marceline says awkwardly, not really knowing what else to say that didn’t voice her obvious excitement. “But anyway, yeah I, kinda ended up getting one despite usually avoiding it. This one girl seems…pretty awesome. I don’t really have a chance, but I mean, can’t really help it.” She says, trying not to seem too obvious about who it is just yet.

Bonnibel just smiled at her. Or maybe it was a smirk _Shit. Did she know?_ Just as she was going to say something her phone beeped. She looked over at it and her eyes widened, she could’ve sworn she hear her swear under her breath as well, but it seemed uncharacteristic, so she must’ve just misheard.

“Sorry Marceline, I can’t have you over for any longer, my Aunt and Uncle are going to be back in half an hour or so.” Bonnibel asked, seeming slightly more tense.

“Really? Am I not allowed to be here while they’re around?” Marceline asked, curious, and trying to push down the anxiety that was telling her other possibilities.

“They’re...strict about who I have over. And they can be judgmental about them, at least my Uncle, and I don’t want you to have to deal with that. I’m not even supposed to have you over now but, they’re out so they don’t know.” She explained nervously.

“You had me over without permission? You’re becoming a real rebel Bonnie.” She teased.

Bonnibel seemed to relax slightly at the teasing. “Sure, I’ll be breaking the law and smoking any day now.” She replied sarcastically.

Marceline just laughed lightly, “I’m sure you will. Anyway, I’ll see you later Bonnie.”

“See you later Marceline.” She replied.

As Marceline left the house and walked home she thought on the information she’d managed to get. She had her confirmation, and she had a chance. A small chance probably, but better than nothing. Bonnibel might even like her back, though she was still doubtful of that claim. Now all she had to do was ask Bonnibel to date her. _Oh right._ _Asking girls out_. _Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So went on a bit of writing binge despite uni work so this ones out a bit earlier than I thought it’d be, enjoy. Marceline’s finally considering the possibility Bonnibel might like her, so maybe we’ll get some actual development. 
> 
> Primer’s a great sci-fi film btw, imo one of if not the best time travel film. So yeah I put that in there cuz I’m biased af in my love for that film. Usually, I’ll put films and other media I like in stories, since as I have knowledge it’s just wayyy easier to have characters talk about it. 
> 
> Also I tacked on that very minor detail about Bonnibel having some interest in Politics, since I’ve always found that to be a part of her character in the show that tends to get dropped in fanfic, though for understandable reasons, and making her mostly interested in science. I won’t be doing anything with it in this fic but, in others I might delve into it, since it’s one of the parts of her character I find most interesting and fascinating. 
> 
> But yeah, enjoy and constructive criticism welcome as usual.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small CW: Some internalised transphobia and slight self-hate. It's minor but, it is there so just as a note.

The sound of the school bell echoed, signalling the start of lunch. Marceline looked at her still incomplete assignment and sighed. Usually, English was one of the subjects she excelled at, at least more so than her others. However, she’d been distracted the entire time by something that just wouldn’t leave her head. Namely how on earth to ask out Bonnibel. Well, more accurately get over her anxiety and self-doubt so she could do so. It’d been almost a week of thinking it over and she still couldn’t manage to get over her doubts.

She sighed and shoved her unfinished assignment into her bag. Hoisting it over her shoulder and walking to the usual spot Bonnibel and her friends hung out. She walked over to the bench, under the shade of a tree, a sat down next to Bonnibel, who had her nose in a book as usual.

“Hey Bonnie.” She said, notifying Bonnibel of her presence. Bonnibel shut the book rather quickly, enough that it made a bit of noise while doing so.

“Oh! Hey Marceline.” Bonnibel replied, before notably trying to keep down a yawn.

Bonnibel seemed a bit off, now that Marceline took more notice after her strange behaviour. Her hair was slightly frazzled, there were faded dark rings under her eyes, despite her makeup. Either they’d been really intense or Bonnibel had been too tired to notice it. Her movements also seemed slightly sluggish and uncoordinated. She noted that exams were due to start next term, after the break that started in a week was over. She might’ve just been studying far ahead of when she needed too.

“You been getting enough sleep Bonnibel?” Marceline asked, slightly concerned.

“Yeah, I’ve just…been up studying a lot about stuff. Exam’s and all start in a month or so. So I need to be prepared.” Bonnibel said. Marceline still wasn’t exactly convinced that she needed to be that prepared, but she didn’t voice it.

“Anyway, how’s your schoolwork been going Marcy?” She checked, as she often did.

“It’s been going well, since you’ve been helping me out with stuff, I’ve been struggling with it’s gotten a lot easier. Thanks for that again by the way Bonnibel, it’s really helped out.” Marceline replied, sending a thankful smile her way.

“No problem Marceline.” Bonnibel said, sending her a slightly tired smile as she did.

They sat in silence for a while, Bonnibel’s friends taking a while to show up for some reason. Marceline kept looking over at Bonnibel, who’d gone and buried her nose in a book again, apparently that dedicated to studying. She couldn’t help but find Bonnibel’s focused expression, her eyebrows scrunched up in concentration, her mouth mouthing the words of the book as she read them to make the information easier to retain, while her fingers fiddled with a few pages of the book every so often, completely adorable. She thought to maybe use the isolated opportunity to ask Bonnibel the question that’d been constantly bouncing in her mind, but every time she looked over, her courage evaporated. Bonnibel was so…much more than she was. All the hints of the possibility that Bonnibel liked her seemed unrealistic or imagined when she compared the difference between them.

She thought nonetheless however to ask her anyway. If Bonnibel did end up rejecting her, she’d at least be able to get over the crush somewhat easier, knowing there was no chance. And if she said yes, no matter how unlikely, then she’d be able to go out with her. Though her own anxious mind reminded her that wasn’t going to happen probably.

“Hey Bonnibel?” Marceline said, preparing to ask her the question.

“Yes Marceline?” Bonnibel closed her book as she did so, looking at her expectantly.

“Would…” Marceline felt anxiety seize her. No, she couldn’t ask it. Everything that could go wrong, that her mind reminded her would likely go wrong, fuelled on by past memories and what she’d been told by others.

“…nevermind.” Marceline mumbled out, hoping Bonnibel wouldn’t press her.

Bonnibel stared at her for a moment. She seemed to want to ask Marceline what it had been about. “Okay Marceline.” Thankfully she didn’t do so, instead going back to her book, but not before a brief, gentle reminder “I’m here for you though if you need anything. And…” Bonnibel seemed to hesitate for a moment, before continuing “…nothing you’ll say will push me away.” Then after her attempts at reassurance Bonnibel went back to her book.

Marceline considered what Bonnibel had said. She always did seem to be good at figuring out what kind of thing was bothering her and giving her reassurance. She couldn’t help but doubt it though. Her mind was always particularly anxious on this subject, considering her previous experience. What chance did she have anyway? That Bonnibel was actually interested in someone like her. She’d complimented in her in the past sure, but that could just be simple friendly compliments. Bonnibel was talented, beautiful, caring, brave, and so many other things she wasn’t. She didn’t have a chance, that she’d say yes to dating someone who could barely attend school consistently, dealt with ever presence anxiety, and was trans. It was just like she’d been told, no one else would want to date someone who was just so wrong and…

Marceline took a deep breath, trying to distract herself from her own thoughts going out of control. Trying to pay attention to that which was going around her, anchoring herself to reality and away from her own thoughts. She fiddled with her fingers in anxiety, trying to focus on the feeling and keep herself distracted. She felt herself calm down slightly, her thoughts calming down in the process as well. She reminded herself she shouldn’t listen to her anxiety in these matters at all. It only cascaded into that self-hating rut she hated getting herself into, especially since sometimes it was harder to get out. She took another deep breath.

She’d just have to figure this out later. When she was more calm.

\----

Hey Bonnibel, do you wanna go out with me?

She stared at the message she’d typed out on her screen hours ago. Or at least one of the many she’d typed up before deleting them and trying to rephrase it so it seemed…less lame. Texting wasn’t exactly the best way to ask someone out but considering her anxiety it seemed much easier compared to asking her in person. She could just send a message and agonise over the response, but at least not have to be there in person. It seemed like a better tactic. Especially since last time she’d tried to ask Bonnibel in person she froze up and was unable too.

That same feeling of anxiety manifested, fear of rejection, fear of being outed, being seen as a creep or even coming across like a guy. She knew it was all mere anxiety. There was always the rational knowledge that all of that was impossible but…it usually didn’t help much, despite being the truth. Especially after what happened to her before, her self-esteem for her chances with others wasn’t exactly high. There was only so often you can hear certain things before you internalise and started to believe them. Especially if it’s from someone you spent a lot of time with. She sighed, exhausted from the constant anxiety.

So, she was stuck in bed, agonising over her inability to simply just ask a girl she liked out, who she was fairly sure was at least somewhat interested in her, despite it seeming completely impossible for that to have happened. She’d forgone getting up and going to school that day to try figure out a solution. That and the feeling and stress of anxiety had contributed to her lack of ability to get up. Though at least she’d be alone for the day. That was until the doorbell buzzed, telling her there was someone at the door waiting for her.

She got herself out of bed to answer the door, not having the patience to deal with someone persistently ringing the doorbell until they gave up and left. As she got closer she saw who was at the door. It was Bonnibel. _Fuck._ The exact source of her anxiety she’d been trying to avoid. She could just ask her to go away but…she didn’t have the heart to do that. Maybe this is what she needed. Bonnibel coming over to her house where she was comfortable, so maybe she could get the courage to ask Bonnibel to date her, since her anxiety would be slightly lessened in her home. That was a possibility. She went forward to open the door and let Bonnibel in.

“Hey Marceline!” Bonnibel said, slightly excited, holding in her hand a container of what she presumed was some kind of baking.

“Hey Bonnibel” Marceline responded, trying to keep the mental exhaustion out of her voice, letting Bonnibel in.

“Do you have any tea? I was thinking we could have some tea and cupcakes and talk a bit.”

“Yeah I do, I’ll go get some ready.” She said, walking into the kitchen as Bonnibel followed.

She turned on the kettle, which was still full with water, and grabbed some mugs, putting a single teabag in each. She grabbed the sugar, and put a teaspoon in her own cup.

“How many sugars do you want Bonnibel? Two? Four? Six?” She teased, not able to avoid poking fun at Bonnibel’s sweet tooth.

“Just two thank you.” Bonnibel said, with a note of annoyance at the teasing, though her smile gave away the fact she didn’t mind.

She waited for the water to boil. As she did, she decided to make some conversation.

“Anything interested happen at school today? I miss any assignments?”

“No, not really, I think Lady’s having another small party but I skipped out on that since I drunk way too much last time. And no on the assignments as well, though I think our final English assignment is going to be handed out soon, so I’d be prepared for that.” Bonnibel reminded.

“Not much need for preparation really. Last year English really isn’t hard, since they let you talk about basically anything that’s media really. And that’s too bad, you are kinda cute drunk.” Marceline commented.

“Really? I’ve always struggled with it somewhat. Probably because it’s somewhat less formulaic. And science and politics aren’t accepted subjects in it either, much to my regret. And well…I haven’t ruled out drinking again entirely. Maybe we could drink together a bit on break, if you want.” She replied casually.

“Yeah, they let you get away with films, shows even, you can even weasel in video games if you want. Honestly you could probably get away with those subjects, just find something that explores it in media, then just ramble on about it making connections to the media. Usually an easy way to an excellence. And sure Bonnie, at least that way you might not get as badly drunk as last time.” She finished with a slight tease.

The kettle clicked, signalling it’d finished boiling water. She poured some into each cup, before grabbing the milk from the fridge.

“You take your tea with milk Bonnibel?” She asked, as she poured a small amount of milk into her cup.

“Yes, just a bit thanks.” Bonnibel replied. She poured a bit of milk in her cup as well.

“It okay if we chill out in my room?” Marceline checked, as she picked up both cups.

“Sure, that’d be fine.” Bonnibel responded with a smile, bringing her container along with her.

They walked to her room, and Marceline set both cups on the nightstand, before sitting down on her bad. Bonnibel followed her, putting the container of baking on the bed, and grabbing her cup before sitting near the end, blowing on it to cool it down, and taking a small sip. Marceline took the container that Bonnibel set down, excited to try more of her delicious baking.

They were cupcakes as Bonnibel had mentioned, topped with coloured icing. It wasn’t swirled like most cupcakes though, they were lines of icing, one thin strip of purple down the middle, with thicker lines of blue and pink on either side. She could’ve sworn she’d seen the colour pattern before, but couldn’t quite place it. She took a bite of it, as she did she realised it was red velvet, the taste of cream cheese giving it away, it was one of her favourites. Between bites and sips of tea it was quickly devoured. She noticed Bonnibel was staring at her, smile on her face.

“You enjoy it?” She questioned.

“Yeah, red velvets one of my favourites actually.”

“Glad you enjoyed it. Did you notice the colours by the way?”

Marceline looked back at the cupcakes colour scheme. Wait…was that…

“Is that the Bi flag?”

“Yeah, I wanted to experiment with coloured icing a bit more, and since I was going to bring some over to you, I decided to use that colour scheme. Hope that’s okay.”

“No, it’s actually really cool, thanks Bonnie.” She complimented.

Bonnibel set her tea back on the nightstand, fiddling slightly with her fingers, before hazarding a question towards Marceline.

“You been okay Marcy? Yesterday you seemed…a bit strange, and you missed school today so…I’m just wondering if somethings been going on? I don’t mean to be nosy I just…want to check on you.” Bonnibel said, nervous, and seemingly wanting to ask her something else.

“I’ve just been dealing with some stuff.” Marceline said vaguely, trying to avoid the subject.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked.

“I…” Marceline paused. Maybe she should just ask. Maybe she should just get it over with and say it.

All she had to do was say it. She’d backed down once before, but at least now she was in her house and feeling more comfortable. It wasn’t that scary. Okay it was extremely scary. But it probably wouldn’t go that wrong. She was fairly sure she had a chance, and even if Bonnibel said no she didn’t think it’d end in disaster. Well, a part of her did think it’d end in disaster, but it was that anxiety ridden part of her mind she just had to ignore when it came to matters such as this. Especially since it rarely turned out to be correct.

Though sometimes….no, she’d ignore it, and she remember what Bonnibel had said. She’d still be okay, she wouldn’t leave her or be weirded out, even if she said no. She noticed Bonnibel had just been staring at her, a silence having been settled over them for quite a while, as Marceline tried to get the courage to ask. She’d just say it. She’d just say it and get it over with and deal with the consequences, ignoring the fact Bonnibel seemed to be about to ask her a question.

“Will you go out with me?” She blurted out.

“Do you like me?” Bonnibel asked.

Both questions were said at the near exactly the same time. Marceline just felt herself pause in confusion, unable to exactly get her head around what had just occurred. Bonnibel however seemed to have no such difficulty, and just started giggling slightly in amusement. Well, at least she’d gotten the question out. Though apparently, she’d been obvious enough that Bonnibel had guessed she had a thing for her. And she’d thought she’d been subtle.

“What makes you ask that?” Marceline asked, slightly indignant at Bonnibel’s amusement. Especially since if Bonnibel had just asked her that question earlier it might’ve saved her the trouble of building up the courage to ask her out.

Bonnibel just smiled at the question, getting her laughing under control and gave her answer. “Well, apart from the fact you _just_ confirmed it by asking me out….I can be very observant Marceline, I’ve noticed you stealing glances at me more and more, blushing when I compliment you, at first I just thought you weren’t used to compliments but I don’t think that is quite it. Then you started asking me what girls I like, talked about how you like pink hair and when I commented on it you doubled down, and all that…seemed to confirm it somewhat. There’s honestly a lot more I’ve noticed but…I don’t have the time to go through them all. So, I’d really like to know since you didn’t exactly answer the question, do you…” The pause seemed calculated, as if to leave her in slight suspense, with nothing but the sound of her heart threatening to beat out of her chest “..like me?”

She gulped. It was a bit of a dumb question, considering Bonnibel already knew the answer even if she hadn’t gotten it directly. It still made her utterly nervous though, despite the fact she’d asked Bonnibel out just before. “Y-Yeah.”

Bonnibel’s smile only grew wider as she heard the answer. She seemed to be extremely pleased, but kept herself from expressing it too much, clearly focused on executing some plan. She laughed lightly before she replied, Marceline could only think about how sweet it sounded. “Well, that’s good.”

As she finished her rather ominous statement, she crawled closer to where Marceline was sitting and lightly pushed her onto her back. It was gentle, easily resisted if she didn’t want to see where Bonnibel was going with this, but she did, so she allowed herself to be pushed down to see what Bonnibel was intended to do. She moved forwards on top of Marceline, straddling her hips. She started to trace her fingers gently, over Marceline’s cheek, down her neck, over her shoulder, down her arm, finishing with knitting her fingers between Marceline’s and holding her hand. She smirked slightly as she continued her statement from before “It’s good because well…if you haven’t picked up on it by now, I’m _really_ quite into you.” Marceline felt her breath hitch in her throat, especially with the emphasis Bonnibel put in her voice.

She didn’t think her heart could beat any faster, but it found a way too as Bonnibel lay a light kiss on her cheek. After that she couldn’t get her mind off asking Bonnibel to kiss her again, preferably on her lips this time, she didn’t have the confidence for it though. At least she didn’t think she did, but she accidentally mumbled out “Kiss me.” As if her own mind had betrayed her and made the thought slip out of her mouth.

Bonnibel just smiled once again after hearing her statement, it was equal parts sultry and pleased, and Marceline couldn’t help but think she liked putting it there. “What was that Marceline?” She asked with feigned ignorance.

“You heard what I said.” Indignantly she tried to refuse repeating herself, trying to save herself some embarrassment.

Bonnibel’s smile just added a slight hint of teasing into it “I did but…I want to hear you say it again. Just to make sure I heard correctly.” It was both a desire for repetition and a request to make sure she was consenting to what she had asked.

She thought to possibly refuse to repeat herself, she did love to be stubborn after all, but as she looked into Bonnibel’s eyes, clouded with affection and desire, she couldn’t help but give in, with the caveat of an embarrassed blush on her cheeks and annoyance in her voice. “I asked you if you could kiss me.” She said, turning her head sideways to avoid looking at Bonnibel as she was slightly shy about the request still.

Her head was quickly turned back however by Bonnibel, who placed a finger on Marceline’s cheek and turned her face back. Then it happened. It was quicker than she’d expected, there was even a part of her that didn’t think Bonnibel would agree to her request, but as she felt Bonnibel’s lips crash into hers, it was undeniably real.

All that gentle control Bonnibel had been keeping most of her desire under melted slightly as she kissed Marceline. All that Marceline could do in response was moan into the all too pleasant kiss, and wrap her arms around Bonnibel, to signal her to not stop and continue kissing her, a request that she was happy to fulfil, judging by the kiss turning quickly into a short make out session.

Marceline closed her eyes and decided to enjoy the sensation of Bonnibel’s lips on hers. They were soft and gentle and tasting of the strawberry lip gloss she used, which was an interesting juxtaposition to how fiercely laced with desire Bonnibel’s kissing was, it was altogether an experience she felt herself getting easily lost in, and something she could imagine doing for hours on end without getting bored.

She wasn’t sure how long it’d taken, but Bonnibel eventually pulled away, much to her displeasure which she’d voiced with a frustrated groan, or that was the intent, it came out more like a desperate whimper. Though she was partly thankful she had an opportunity to catch her breath for a bit at the least. In the silence between them, Marceline felt anxiety prick at her mind. She sat up slightly, though Bonnibel continued to straddle her hips, and decided to voice her anxieties, if only so they could be silenced by someone else. “Do you really like me?”

Bonnibel just smiled with affection. “Yes Marceline, I really do.”

“But, but I’m like, trans, I don’t even, I’m not even a real-” Bonnibel interrupts Marceline by placing a finger to her lips to quiet her.

“You’re a girl Marceline, that’s the truth. And I just so happen to be _very_ into girls.”

Bonnibel removes her finger from her lips and moves her arms around the back of Marceline’s neck as she leans close to her ear and whispers “Especially girls as pretty and attractive as you Marcy.” As she finishes, she nibbles lightly on Marceline’s earlobe, eliciting a slight shaky moan from her.

“So, you’re uh, really like, into me? Seriously?” Marceline stammers out, face flushed with embarrassment.

“What do you think?” Bonnibel chuckles as she nuzzles into her neck.

“Well, I guess, uh, you might be? I mean it’s just hard to believe because y’know I’m just-” her self-conscious rambling is interrupted by a slight gasp as Bonnibel starts placing kisses and gentle bites along her neck.

“Marceline-” Another kiss. “-I am-” A couple quick bites. “-for the last-” Kisses slowly traced from along her clavicle all the way up to her jaw. “-time-” A slightly more intense bite to her neck, which elicits a long moan from her, and bound to leave a mark. “-totally into you. I have been for a while.”

“A while?”

“Jeez your dense, you’re the girl I mentioned I was crushing on. For quite a long time, since you moved here this year actually. At first it was just a physical thing, I thought you were really cute, but it got a bit more serious as I got to know you more and turned into more than just a slight crush.” She explained.

“I'm not that dense, I noticed I just...wasn't sure you'd like someone like me. But you weren’t turned off by the fact I was trans?” She asked.

“No Marceline, I wasn’t. I mean sure, I didn’t exactly _expect_ it, but it didn’t make me any less attracted to you. I’m sure some people would react negatively but well, they wouldn’t deserve someone as wonderful as you anyway.” Bonnibel reassured.

“You, You think I’m wonderful?” Marceline asked, surprised.

“Among other things, yes.” Bonnibel confirmed, before going back to placing kisses across Marceline’s neck.

“Wait, wait Bonnibel.” She paused and withdrew, waiting for Marceline to continue. “Can we…not go further than this? Just kissing and stuff? I mean just for now.”

“Sure Marceline, that’s okay, I wasn’t meaning to go any further anyway.” Bonnibel paused for a moment, mulling something over, before continuing. “And I know there’s some things you’re probably going to want to take slow or will be off limits and that’s totally okay as well.”

“Yeah, I mean, I want to do, uh, _other_ stuff with you, and I’m actually not that fussed about moving quickly personally just…not all at once?” Marceline explained.

“You don’t mind moving fast? Good to know. But yes, we don’t need to do anything more than kissing right now, we can do all of this at whatever speed you’re comfortable with.” Bonnibel said, smiling with a hint of something else that Marceline couldn’t identify. Though she could guess at what it might be about.

Well, that implication was…interesting. She’d think over that later. At the moment she had other more important things to focus on.

“Thanks, Bonnibel. Anyway, can we get back to making out?” Marceline asked, slightly blushing from the still unfamiliar fact she was able to ask that.

“There’s nothing I’d rather do.” Bonnibel agreed, leaning back down towards Marceline, who wrapped her arms around Bonnibel as she did, helping pull her down into a kiss.

By the time they got back to their cups of tea on nightstand, they’d gone completely cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Finally, the lesbians stop being useless aka, Bonnibel gets tired of waiting for Marceline to take a hint and just makes a move, at the same time Marceline gets the confidence to make one as well. Hurrah. Also yeah got a bit steamy, but honestly, this is p tame in my experience, at least where pining lesbians who finally admit feelings are concerned. also I love these gays, ngl. 
> 
> Also most romance going forward will be me making stuff up, my experience have all universally skipped ahead of the dating part to other traditionally later stages so, no idea how that works. Hopefully writing for it will go well though. 
> 
> Also yeah this came out really really soon after the last one, I kinda had this mostly written up already, so that’s why it’s so soon, and it was the weekend as well so had free time to touch up other parts. I have a certain other part mostly written up, so this'll probably happen again in a few chapters time if I touch that up in time.


End file.
